Hellish life ‘slave’ trapped by mum in home of horrors – broom assaults and no enamel

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A British mum-of-ten has been convicted of false imprisonment, assault and forced labour after holding a woman captive for 25 years in a horrific campaign of abuse

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A British mother-of-10 imprisoned a woman for 25 years in a shocking abuse campaign, callously confining her as the family’s enslaved helper. The victim, who was merely 16 when it started, had been visiting Amanda Wixon’s household for the weekend.

Rather than protecting her friend’s daughter, wicked Wixon, 56, exploited the innocent sleepover as a chance to trap the defenceless teenager into a life of imprisonment and misery. She additionally pocketed the victim’s benefits, amassing thousands of pounds.

Confined in appalling conditions from 1997, the secondary school pupil was attacked “many, many times,” had her hair forcibly cut off and was deprived of food and basic cleanliness. She was additionally compelled to scrub Wixon’s home – frequently on her knees – and was even made to assist in caring for her captor’s offspring, the court was told.

Wixon, from Tewkesbury, a charming market town in Gloucestershire, concealed the despicable secret for decades. In an extraordinary breakout in 2021, her victim, now in her 40s, succeeded in using a mobile phone she had covertly concealed to alert authorities.

The jury was subjected to harrowing details about the “appalling” conditions in which the victim was held captive. For over two decades, she was not permitted to leave as Wixon – ominously referred to as ‘The Witch’ by the woman she had enslaved – secured the doors and windows, reports The Mirror.

Although the woman was denied personal hygiene, she was forced to bathe the children and prepare baths for Wixon. Despite being subjected to physical abuse and living in squalor, the courageous victim managed to secretly record voice notes about her ordeal on a concealed phone.

The prosecution revealed that Wixon shaved the woman’s head, assaulted her with a broom, and forced washing up liquid down her throat.

Upon arriving at Wixon’s residence, officers discovered the victim bruised and toothless – a result of the relentless abuse she endured. The woman had spent years subsisting on leftovers and sleeping in a damp, mould-infested room with bare walls, likened to a prison cell by the jurors.

Heart-wrenching bodycam footage from the officers, presented in court, depicted the ‘vulnerable’ victim appearing gaunt, unwashed, timid, and terrified. She informed her rescuers that she hadn’t bathed in over a year.

This week, Wixon was found guilty of multiple counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, false imprisonment, and forcing a person to perform compulsory labour at Gloucester Crown Court. The heartless mother displayed no emotion when the verdict was announced.

The jury acquitted her of one assault charge but convicted her on the remaining charges.

Judge Ian Lawrie KC warned Wixon that a prison sentence was ‘inevitable’ as he granted her conditional bail before her sentencing hearing in March. The family residence, occupied by Wixon and her 10 children, was characterised as cramped, in filthy conditions, with mould covering the walls, crumbling plaster and debris scattered throughout the rear garden.

The victim recounted numerous attacks, including being kicked, beaten, shoved down stairs and strangled, according to the Daily Mail. She alleged that the other children residing in the property were exempt from the household duties she was forced to perform.

Sam Jones, prosecuting, informed 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.”

The judge observed there was a “Dickensian quality” to the case as the woman, who has learning difficulties, was born into a “dysfunctional family” before her imprisonment. When police arrived, following a tip-off from one of Wixon’s sons, the victim informed officers: “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.”

Her Body Mass Index was “very close” to being underweight when authorities discovered her.

The victim was also found with scarring to her lips and face and large calluses on her feet and ankles from being perpetually on her hands and knees scrubbing floors. Wixon would intimidate her with violence if she failed to complete her household duties.

One neighbour described the woman as “looking like something out of a concentration camp”. Another witnessed her appearing “skin and bone” with a shaved head and described seeing her being struck with a broom.

A neighbour of Wixon’s says she repeatedly contacted social services “but nothing was ever done”. Neighbour Kiram, 33, was a witness in the case against the 56-year-old and says she saw her victim regularly tapping on the windows from inside.

Kiram gave a statement to police about the abuse which Wixon has now admitted. The neighbour recalls seeing the victim being beaten up, ripped up “like a rag doll” and constantly sat down on her legs in the house. She said: “It was disgusting. I’m just so shocked it’s been in waiting for so long. I was a neighbour from the age of 13. I mentioned it to my mum because I could see if from my room. I made phone calls for social services, nothing was ever done. The last time, they were informed, was back in 2019.

”Social services failed her massively. She was diagnosed with global development delay. And obviously, a lot of other learning difficulties. You could tell that she was vulnerable. The hygiene was not there. It was like house of horrors. There were a few occasions where she’d come to the window. But that was years later. We didn’t think she was still there.

“Last time I probably properly seen her was when I was a kid. Then after that, I think, first time we’ve seen her was then around 2016. And then after that, it was 2020 or 2021 but we were in lockdown. And that’s when she was knocking on windows. It was just knocking and waving, but nothing was ever said.”

The court heard social services were involved with the family in the late 1990s but there were no records of any contact since. The woman also had no medical or dental records and had not seen a doctor in two decades. “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,” the prosecutor said.

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. “The truth is, that just like Mandy and others in the family, their teeth rotted out by neglect, and has been inflated to a story of violent abuse,” he said.

Since being rescued, the victim is now living with a foster family, attending college and has been on holidays abroad. After being given dentures, she is said to have become very emotional after seeing herself with teeth for the first time in years. Wixon’s neighbour Kiram added: “The victim is thriving. She is doing really well. She’s like a completely different person.

“She’s better in herself. She’s got the opportunity to learn things now. Nothing’s gonna stop her from progressing the way she has done.” But her decades of captivity still haunt her, as she 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. As the mum left court she was asked what she had to say to her victim and 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.”

One resident who didn’t know Wixon was keeping a victim in the house described the mum as “filthy”. She said: “You get families and you know that there’s something about them, but you don’t know what it is. Filthy. I don’t know Amanda personally, really, but I know a few of her children.

“Why did none of them ever questioned why she was being treated to that way? Why were they never made to scrub the floors? I know the victim’s sister. She had no way of contacting anybody, did she? Obviously, she wasn’t allowed to go to the hospital, the doctors. Social services were always shut down, so how was the family meant to know what was going on? That girl is still suffering and she lost 25 years of her life.”

Detective Sergeant Alex Pockett, from Gloucestershire Police, said the victim had been “treated horrendously” by Wixon. “She was treated really, really badly while she was in the address,” he said. “I’ve not come across a case like this and it’s clear that it’s had a massive impact on the victim.”

Det Sgt Pockett also said that, from the late 1990s, Wixon had the woman’s benefits paid into her own bank account. “The benefits records that we were able to obtain didn’t go back past 2016, but from 2016 to 2021 Mrs Wixon received over £33,000 in the victim’s benefits,” he said. “From the late 1990s to 2016 I would imagine it was a considerable sum of money.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council said: “We were first made aware of the tragic situation regarding this individual in 2021 as part of the police investigation. and since that point, our Adult Social Care services have been supporting the victim in this shocking case.”

For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email [email protected], visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

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