A woman who forced a teenage girl to work as a “house slave” and live in squalor while subjected to 25 years of abuse has been jailed.
The victim, who is now in her mid-40s, moved into the overcrowded home of Amanda Wixon, now 56, and her 10 children in 1995 and was made to remain there until she was 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 had 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.
The woman, who is not being identified, 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.”
The court heard that food was limited by Wixon, and she lived off scraps, could not leave the house, and was forced to secretly wash at night.
The family home in the Priors Park area of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was overcrowded and in a squalid condition, with mould on the walls, plaster hanging off, and rubbish in the back garden.
Wixon was found guilty of false imprisonment, two charges of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and four charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has been jailed for 13 years.
Passing sentence Judge Ian Lawrie KC said Wixon was in “permanent denial” about the impact of her offending on the woman.
“You are to be punished for a series of offences spanning 20 years,” the judge said. “You cruelly and persistently held captive this woman. This false imprisonment ran from her later teens until early 40s.
“The enduring persistent trauma of that slavery remains. This offending was not isolated and was persistent over many years.”
Sam Jones, prosecuting, told the jury: “She was kept in and prevented from leaving the address and she was assaulted and hit many, many times and forced to work with the threats of violence.
“She had been denied food and the ability to wash over many years.”
Gloucester Crown Court heard the woman, who has learning difficulties, had gone to stay with Wixon for a weekend after leaving her own “dysfunctional family”.
Police went to the house in March 2021 in response to a report made by one of Wixon’s sons about the woman, with officers describing the woman’s bedroom as looking like a “prison cell”, with other bedrooms untidy and dirty.
She told police: “I don’t want to be here. I don’t feel safe. Mandy hits me all the time. I don’t like it. I haven’t washed for years. She doesn’t let me.”
The court heard social services were involved with the family in the late 1990s but there were no records of any contact since.
There were no medical records or dental records for the woman, and she had not seen a doctor in two decades.
“The lack of records from the hospital, the doctor and the dentist or any involvement with social services for 20 years provides further support of her never being allowed to leave the house,” Mr Jones said.
“By the late 1990s it appears the woman disappeared into a black hole. Not a single meeting that left a record or a single sighting of her outside the house.”
Like many in the house, including Wixon, the woman had lost many of her teeth due to poor dental hygiene.
When she was discovered by police, her Body Mass Index was “very close” to being underweight.
She also had scarring to her lips and face, and large calluses on her feet and ankles from being constantly on her hands and knees cleaning floors.
One neighbour described the woman as “looking like something out of a concentration camp”. Another saw her looking “skin and bone” with a shaved head and described seeing her being hit with a broom.
Since being rescued, the woman is now living with a foster family, attending college and has been on holidays abroad, but has suffered nightmares about her ordeal and has a constant wish to clean.
Wixon denied all the charges and blamed her estranged son, Clint, for suggesting things to the woman.
Edward Hollingsworth, defending, described the prosecution case as a “tale of fantasy and lies” and suggested there was a “child-like fantasy” to the woman’s allegations.
“The life of Amanda Wixon was much more complicated and nuanced,” he said. “Her other children were not vaccinated, not attending school, and had rotting teeth and head lice.”
He said they all lived in squalid conditions and the other children’s bedrooms were equally as bad.
As Wixon left the court she was asked what she had to say to her victim, and she replied: “Not a lot.”
Asked if she was sorry, she said: “No. I never done it.”
Reporters asked if she was a “monster” as she stopped to light a cigarette, and she replied: “Say what you think. Why would I be sorry for something I claim I had never done?”
Told she could get a 10-year prison sentence, Wixon replied: “I know that. Do you think I am stupid? Do you think I don’t know that?”
Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher said the abuse meted out by Wixon towards the woman was one of the worst cases he had seen in his near-30 year policing career.
“She was totally dehumanised,” Mr Fletcher said. “I don’t think Amanda Wixon saw her as a human being.
“She saw her as slave to use for her own will to make her life better, and she was treated very, very differently to Amanda’s own children.
“She was expected to live in that squalor. But also was expected to clean up and make their lives better.”
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of learning disability charity Mencap, said: “The abuse and captivity the woman lived through was utterly appalling and deeply distressing.
“Our thoughts are with her as she continues to rebuild her life after this unimaginable ordeal. We welcome the strong sentence which goes some way to recognising the abhorrent crime.
“People with a learning disability are at far higher risk of abuse, exploitation and coercion, and this case shows the devastating consequences when that vulnerability is cruelly taken advantage of.”
