The Gloucester Crown Court in England has sentenced a 56-year-old mother of 10, Amanda Wixon, for modern slavery offences, after holding a vulnerable woman captive for 25 years.

According to the BBC, Ms Wixon made the victim clean her overcrowded home in Tewkesbury, and forced her to live off scraps since she moved in at the age of 16 in 1996 until 2021.

The report said that during the period, the victim could not leave the house, was forced to wash at night secretly, and some of her teeth were knocked out with a broomstick handle by the defendant, while others were removed due to poor hygiene.

The victim told the court she is often “panicked and frozen”, adding that loud noises scare her, and she feels “anxiety every day”.

The prosecution said the abuse had a “significant” impact on the victim, who will “live with the effects of her trauma for the rest of her life.”

In her judgment on Thursday, Judge Ian Lawrie KC expressed dissatisfaction that Ms Wixon showed no remorse and was in “permanent denial” about the impact of her action, which “cruelly and persistently held the victim captive” as well as “crushed her spirit”. The judge added that the victim now requires 24-hour care due to the neglect suffered.

“The gravity of your offending is so serious that I am imposing a significant period of custody. 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.”

The judge therefore sentenced the defendant to 13 years in prison, stating that she will serve two-thirds of her incarceration behind bars.

Rachael Scott of the Crown Prosecution Service told journalists outside the court that the victim suffered “decades of torment, exploitation and control. She was denied her freedom, made to live in appalling physical and emotional conditions and forced to act on the whim of a woman who imprisoned her.

“Over the years of captivity, which she was only able to track by the passing of each Christmas, she was left to live off the crumbs that Wixon provided, while suffering unimaginable abuse and experiencing no acts of kindness at all. Despite all of this, the progress she has made since finding freedom is remarkable and a true statement of her strength.”

Det Supt Ian Fletcher of Gloucestershire Police said the defendant’s son contacted them in 2021, expressing concern about the victim’s welfare.

Mr Fletcher said the deeply malnourished victim, who had obvious sores on her mouth and face when they rescued her, told operatives that the defendant’s children sometimes sneak biscuits to her. She gets beaten up whenever Mrs Wixon catches her eating them.

“I think we believe that Wixon was very, very manipulative over her own family and over her own husband and her own children. Ultimately, one of Wixon’s children actually reported this to the police, so down the line they have finally come through,” said Mr Fletcher.

The victim, who is currently holidaying abroad, now attends college.