A UK court has jailed Mandy Wixon, a mother of 10, after finding her guilty of keeping a woman with learning difficulties captive for more than 25 years and subjecting her to domestic servitude and sustained abuse.
The offences occurred at Wixon’s home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, where the victim was forced to clean the house, live on severely restricted food and remain indoors for years at a time.
The court heard that the woman was repeatedly assaulted, with washing-up liquid squirted into her mouth, bleach splashed on her face, and her head shaved against her will.
At Gloucester Crown Court, Judge Ian Lawrie described the case as having a “Dickensian quality” as Wixon was convicted of false imprisonment, forcing a person to perform compulsory labour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The victim, now in her 40s and identified as K, was discovered by police on March 15, 2021, after one of Wixon’s sons raised concerns with authorities.
Prosecutors said K came from a troubled background and, at around 16 years old in 1996, was handed over to Wixon, who had a loose connection to her family.
The court heard that K was regularly beaten, struck with a broom handle, and lost teeth as a result of the abuse.
Her movements were tightly controlled, she was forced to wash secretly at night, and police described her bedroom as resembling a “prison cell”.
Speaking to officers, K said: “I don’t want to be here. I don’t feel safe. Mandy hits me all the time. I don’t like it.”
Detective Sergeant Alex Pockett told the court that when police arrived, the victim was visibly terrified.
“Her head was held down. It was clear she was extremely scared,” he said.
Prosecutor Sam Jones said the victim had effectively vanished from society. “By the late 1990s, it appears the woman disappeared into a black hole.
There is not a single recorded meeting or confirmed sighting of her outside the house,” he told jurors.
The case has sparked renewed calls for greater vigilance in protecting vulnerable individuals from long-term abuse hidden behind closed doors.
BBC.
