Amanda Wixon, 56, imprisoned the teenager and subjected her to years of abuse at her home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, from 1995 until 2021 where she was used as a house slave
A woman locked away in a house of horrors has told of her ordeal after going for a sleepover and never coming back. A court heard how the victim was 16 when she went to Amanda Wixon’s filthy home where she was imprisoned and kept as a slave for 25 years.
Today, mother-of-10 Wixon was jailed for 13 years. Gloucester Crown Court heard the victim – who now refers to Wixon as The Witch – was regularly beaten and also hit with a broom handle, knocking out her teeth.
Washing-up liquid would be squirted down her throat, bleach splashed on her face and she had her head repeatedly shaved against her will. Her 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, in a squalid condition, with mould on the walls, plaster hanging off and rubbish in the back garden.
Wixon was found guilty by a jury of false imprisonment, two charges of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and four charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
During the sentencing hearing, Sam Jones, prosecuting, read to the court a note the victim had written.
She 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. I am now living with a wonderful family who show me kindness, patience and support.
“Their love is helping me slowly rebuild the life that was taken from me and begin to feel safe again. Nothing can give me back the 25 years I lost.
“But I hope the court recognises the deep and lasting harm this abuse has caused and delivers a sentence that truly reflects the seriousness of these crimes.”
The woman, who is now in her mid-40s, was 16 when she relocated to Wixon’s property in 1995 and stayed there until 2021.
Mr Jones stated: “The effect upon her has been significant and has unquestionably been life changing and life altering.
“She has lost in effect over 20 years of her adult life. Her victim impact statement records not just the impact upon her at the time but the enduring impact there has been.
“The psychiatric report sets out the extreme nature of the serious psychological harm that has been suffered here.
“It has and will have substantial long-term impact upon her.”
He explained the woman, who the Press Association has chosen not to name, was “highly vulnerable” and had a learning disability.
“She was subjected to abuse over a long and sustained period and on the jury’s findings she was also falsely imprisoned over a 20-year period,” Mr Jones stated.
“The threat of violence hung over her if she attempted to leave the house.
“The court may consider that there came a point – whether the door was locked or not – she had reached a stage where she was detained for so long that the physical barrier was irrelevant.”
Judge Ian Lawrie KC said there was a “Dickensian quality” to the story after the woman left 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.
Officers described the woman’s bedroom as looking like a “prison cell”, with other bedrooms untidy and dirty.
The court heard social services were involved with the family in the late 1990s but there were no records of any contact since.
“The fact remains that nothing was done by social services,” 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 because of 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 like “skin and bone” with a shaved head and described seeing her being hit with a broom. The court was told Wixon had for many years claimed the woman’s state benefits – pocketing at least £100,000.
Since her rescue, the woman is now residing with a foster family, studying at college and has enjoyed holidays overseas.
She has endured nightmares about her trauma, and maintains a persistent desire to clean.
Wixon rejected all charges and blamed her estranged son Clint for putting ideas into the woman’s head.
Edward Hollingsworth, defending, said Wixon continued to protest her innocence.
“She received limited education and she presents as someone of low intellectual ability,” he said.
“It is heartless but not sophisticated. Her first husband is now an alcoholic, and her current husband has his own difficulties and has been described by the police as a vulnerable person.
“A number of her children have personal difficulties. I would invite the court to treat her as unsophisticated and vulnerable in her own right.”
Delivering sentence Judge Lawrie said Wixon remained in “permanent denial” about the consequences of her crimes on the woman.
“The gravity of your offending is so serious that I am imposing a significant period of custody,” the judge said.
“You are to be punished for a series of offences spanning 20 years. 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.”
Wixon was also issued an indefinite restraining order, prohibiting her from contacting her victim.