A former probation officer has been found guilty of killing her five-year-old stepdaughter by forcing her into a scalding hot bath in 1978. Janice Nix, now 67, punished Andrea Bernard by making her get into the bath at their home in Thornton Heath, south London. Andrea's death was initially treated as an accident until her older brother, Desmond Bernard, went to police in 2022 to reveal a secret he had kept for nearly five decades, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Desmond Bernard, now 56, said he and his siblings lived in constant fear of Nix's beatings, which left mental scars he is still healing from. He sobbed in the witness box as he described how Nix would beat him with a belt, burn him with a cigarette, bite him, and force him to eat cat food. On June 6, 1978, Nix was furious after Andrea ignored instructions not to leave the house and to help clean instead. She shouted at Andrea in an extremely loud voice before beating her.
Mr Bernard said he later heard the bath running and heard Janice shouting 'get in the bath' and Andrea saying 'the bath is too hot mummy.' He then heard screaming and splashing, followed by silence and Janice calling Andrea to wake up. When he walked into the bathroom, he saw Nix cradling Andrea, who was limp and wrapped in a towel, with skin falling off her. Nix asked him to say it was an accident and that they were in the garden when it happened, promising she would never beat him again. He lied and told everyone that story because he didn't feel protected and just wanted it to stop.
Nix, of Clapham, south London, shook her head and wept in the dock as she was convicted of manslaughter. She was also convicted of cruelty to Mr Bernard between October 1975 and June 1978. Mr Bernard said in a statement after the verdict that his sister was talkative, brave, and very smart, and that he came forward to lift a burden that was not his to carry. He described the constant fear they lived in and the calculated abuse Nix inflicted, which included slapping, beating with belts, burning with cigarettes, hitting with a metal pot, biting, forcing him to eat cat food, and making them sit in cold baths.
Andrea died nearly six weeks after arriving at hospital with burns to 50% of her body. A burns expert testified that a child exposed to such hot water would instinctively try to get out, meaning Nix must have forcibly held parts of Andrea's body underwater. During the 1978 inquest, Nix initially claimed Andrea took a bath on her own and later complained of itchy legs before fainting. But she admitted during her trial to giving a false account because she was in a panic over failing to supervise Andrea. She claimed she did not realize the bathwater was scalding hot.
Nix was arrested at Heathrow Airport on February 18, 2025, after arriving from Antigua, and was charged that day. Detective Sergeant Danny Chatfield said Nix's actions were selfish and cowardly, and she maintained a web of lies for decades. Detective Inspector Louise Caveen praised Desmond's courage in coming forward, which led to Nix being held responsible for her actions. Aisling Hosein of the Crown Prosecution Service said the prosecution came about only after Andrea's brother reported the stepmother's actions to police in 2022, resulting in the circumstances being re-examined. Nix was remanded in custody to be sentenced at a later date.
