A young woman kept as a slave for 25 years is still terrified of her abuser and calls her ‘The Witch’, her foster carer has revealed.
Amanda Wixon, 56, was jailed on Thursday for 13 years after being convicted of false imprisonment, two charges of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and four charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The victim, who is not being identified, has a learning disability and is now in her mid-40s. She was just 16 when she moved into Wixon’s home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire in 1995, and she remained there until being rescued in 2021.
In what was described as a “Dickensian” story of abuse, the woman was regularly beaten and hit with a broom handle, and her teeth knocked out.
Washing-up liquid was squirted down her throat, bleach splashed on her face, and she had her head repeatedly shaved against her will.
Now living with a foster family and attending college, she has little comprehension of the years of abuse that Wixon subjected her to, her foster mother said.
“I don’t think she’s really got much understanding of it,” she said.
“She just knew that she’d been working hard, doing everything, looking after the children. I don’t think she realises the full extent of it, even though she was suffering.”
The foster mother said that the victim was terrified of Wixon and broke down in hysterics when she accidentally bumped into her in a supermarket recently.
“She called her The Witch. She’s really scared of her. She’s petrified actually,” she said.
“You know, when the court case was going on, she went into a supermarket and bumped into her and she was hysterical. I mean, she was really terrified, petrified.
“She was running around. It was horrible. She was just going through the aisles and saw her. And that was it. She went absolutely mad in the supermarket.”
The foster mother read out a letter the woman had written.
She said: “For 25 years, I lived in fear, control and abuse. I was treated as though my life, my freedom and my voice did not matter.
“Although my abuser has now been found guilty, the trauma and the nightmares are something I still carry with me every day.
“I am now living with a wonderful family who show me kindness, patience and support.
“Their love is helping me slowly rebuild the life that was taken from me and begin to feel safe again.
“Nothing can give me back the 25 years I lost.
“But I hope the court recognises the deep and lasting harm this abuse has caused and delivers a sentence that truly reflects the seriousness of these crimes.”
The foster mother said there needed to be an inquiry into how the woman was left living in Wixon’s home for more than 20 years without the authorities knowing.
“I personally think it’s appalling. There should be something done about it,” she said.
“I don’t know how they let that slip. I don’t know what happened, but there needs to be a shake-up.
“And I hope that nobody else goes through what she’s been through. I think they need to be more alert and to help other people.
“It would be a massive shame if other people go through what she has been through. It’s been horrendous.
“For me, even when they took her out, they put her in another place again, which I don’t think was safe for her.
“So she went through trauma again, being in that second place. I think it’s disgusting, frankly.
“I don’t think she should have been placed there at all. I don’t understand that bit.”
During the trial, the court heard that social services had been involved with the Wixon family in the late 1990s, but there were no records of any other contact with any agency since then.
“She said in court that she did approach somebody, but it was brushed off,” the foster mother said.
“I think that was bad. I think if they had followed through, then half of what was going on would not have gone on.
“They would have found her early enough to take her out. They need to do something about that.”
The foster mother said the woman was now living in constant fear, having been traumatised by her ordeal.
“I’m going to be there to support her all the time, to tell her she’s safe now, and she won’t be going through that again,” she said.
“I’m trying to be there to support her. I love her to bits and everything. At the moment, she’s going through therapy. She’s got a good psychologist and stuff like that.
“I think she will be okay in time. But it’s just going to take time.”
