Janice Nix, a woman who killed her stepdaughter over 40 years ago in 1978, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Isleworth Crown Court in the UK.

Mrs Nix, who was found guilty of manslaughter after new evidence led Metropolitan detectives to open an investigation into the death of five-year-old Andrea Bernard, was earlier convicted in May.

The UK Met police, in a statement on Friday, said Mrs Nix, 67, of Rodenhurst Road, SW4, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court, where she had also been found guilty of the assault and ill-treatment of Ms Andrea’s older brother Desmond between 1975 and 1978.

“She was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for those offences, to run concurrently,” the police said.

Mr Desmond, in a victim impact statement read out in court, said, “’The last memory I have of my sister’s life is my sister’s piercing screams and lying about her death. Your actions robbed my sister of her life and stole from me the opportunity to grow up with her. I was broken, and I have never been the same since.”

Louise Caveen, a detective inspector from the Met’s Cold Case Homicide team, said, “Desmond’s words in court made clear how profound an impact Andrea’s death has had on his whole life. Nothing can ever change what happened that day, but we know how important it is to him that Janice has finally faced justice and is now being held responsible for taking his sister’s life.”

Lauding Mr Desmond for speaking up years after his sister was killed, Mr Caveen said, his courage in coming forward led to the investigation being opened, and his powerful evidence was vital in ensuring the jury saw through Mrs Nix’s lies. 

“I hope this case demonstrates that the Met will always review any new evidence that is brought to us, no matter the length of time that has passed. We will use all of the resources we have available to seek out the truth and pursue new opportunities to get justice for all victims who have been unlawfully killed,” he said.

According to the police, Ms Andrea died nearly six weeks after arriving at the hospital with severe burns to 50 per cent of her body, caused by immersion in a scalding bath at their home in Thornton Heath.

The coroner at the time concluded her death was a result of sepsis caused by the burns, and it was ruled an accidental death.

However, in 2022, her brother Desmond – who was eight years old at the time – came forward to police and said he believed Mrs Nix was responsible for Ms Andrea’s death, leading to a criminal investigation being opened.

The police said officers recovered a 16-page coroner’s report, which proved vital to the investigation.

The report included a description of the injuries Ms Andrea sustained alongside the treatment she received in the hospital, as well as a statement from Mrs Nix taken shortly after Ms Andrea’s death.

The police said, “When questioned as part of the 2022 police investigation, Mrs Nix was initially not told that her original statement from the time had been found, and she provided a significantly different account of the events of that day. She also claimed that the Coroner had found Andrea died as a result of a tragic accident caused by a malfunctioning boiler which overheated the bath water – there was, in fact, no mention of this in the Coroner’s report.

“When asked to explain these major discrepancies, she made no comment and added that it had been a traumatic time in her life. During the trial, expert witnesses gave evidence to explain the level of injury and the likelihood as to how Andrea sustained them.”

According to police, a burns expert said he would expect a child, when immersed in water hot enough to cause Ms Andrea’s injuries, to immediately try to get out by standing up; he would not expect them to voluntarily sit down or stay in this position.

The prosecution argued that Mrs Nix must have caused parts of Ms Andrea’s body to be submerged.