Mother who held woman captive as a slave for 25 years jailed

A mother from Tewkesbury who held a woman captive as a slave inside her "squalid" home for 25 years has been sentenced to 13 years.

Amanda Wixon, 56, forced the woman - now in her 40s - to shave her hair, regularly beat her if she didn't complete jobs around the home, and made her live off "scraps" of food.

It's also understood that while being held, Wixon, a mother of 10, stole more than £100,000 in benefits from the victim.

Wixon will serve two-thirds of her sentence.

Police officers who arrived at the house in Tewskesbury, Gloucestershire, following a tip-off from one of Wixon's sons in March 2021, described the victim's bedroom as looking like a "prison cell".

They found a basic bed with filthy sheets, bare plaster walls with mould growing on them and no light bulb.

The woman, who we can only identify as "K", has learning difficulties and knew Wixon when she was a child, through family connections.

In 1996, she was taken into Wixon's home at the age of 16.

Police say that Wixon kept her in squalid conditions for more than two decades, forced her to look after her children, locking her in the house and depriving her of food, health and dental care.

The jury heard she was beaten with a broom handle, knocking out her teeth, had washing-up liquid squirted down her throat and bleach splashed on her face.

Wixon did not allow "K" to wash herself, something she did in secret at night.

The court heard how Wixon had strangled the victim and pushed her head down the toilet.

Wixon had benefits for the victim paid into her bank account from the late 1990s, receiving more than £100,000 over the years.

After being removed from the address, doctors described "K" as "malnourished" - noting scarring around her mouth, thought to be due to contact with cleaning fluids.

Calluses were found on her ankles, consistent with the victim's account of spending hours on her knees sweeping the floor.

The victim now lives with a foster family, attends college and has been on holidays abroad.

K's new foster mother described how she "had to take her to the doctors and get lots of appointments and try and feed her and show her love... She wasn't used to things like that".

She described how when K first arrived to live with her, "she didn't want me to hug her", but that after weeks of support and hard work, she "turned around and started being loving".

The Crown Prosecution Service said Wixon was subjected to "unimaginable cruelty, exploitation and control".

Wixon was convicted in January at Gloucester Crown Court of modern-day slavery offences, including two counts of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

She was found not guilty of a further count of assault.

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On conviction, Judge Ian Lawrie KC said there was a "Dickensian quality" to the story after the victim left her own "dysfunctional family".

Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher from Gloucestershire Constabulary said this was one of the "worst cases" he had ever seen.

"The pure longevity of the harm that's been caused, nearly 25 years of suffering and pain. This is one of the most horrific crimes I've seen investigated by Gloucestershire."

He added that Wixon still denies any wrongdoing:

"She's shown no remorse whatsoever towards the victim, she has dehumanised our victim and doesn't believe she's a real person.

"We're working with the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) to work out what level of fraud there is - but we suspect it to be over £100,000 she's taken from the victim over that time."

He added that the victim has a "very" long road to recovery:

"Psychologists say she will suffer severe psychological trauma, probably for the rest of her life.

"But there's little things. She's been out, she's drawing, doing poetry, taking walks in the sunshine. So little things we take for granted, she's taking as absolute pleasures in her life."

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