Mother of 10 Jailed for 13 Years Over Captivity and Abuse of Vulnerable Woman
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A 56-year-old mother of 10 has been sentenced to 13 years in prison this week after she was found to have kept a woman with learning disabilities captive for 25 years.
The Gloucestershire Constabulary in Gloucestershire, England, put out a statement earlier this week detailing the abuse suffered by the victim, who was just 16 years old when taken into Wixon's home.
The victim, whose name is being withheld to protect her identity but is sometimes referred to as “K,” was forced into domestic servitude, deprived of food and healthcare, and was regularly assaulted by Wixon.
K, who has been described as having learning difficulties, went to stay at Wixon's home in the early 1990s to escape the issues she was having with her own “dysfunctional family.”
The victim had unknowingly wandered into what would become her prison for the next two decades.
Wixon held the girl against her will, keeping the doors and windows to the home locked to prevent any escape attempts.
She was forced to clean and care for Wixon’s many children.
The victim was forced to live on scraps of leftover food and had to sneak into the bathroom at night to wash.
She would later describe herself as a "house slave."
She suffered severe assaults at the hands of her captor, having chemical cleaning agents thrown at her face and poured down her neck, and had her head shaved against her will multiple times. She was hit about the head and face with broomstick handles to the point where she lost teeth.
At no point did she receive medical or dental care.
Wixon not only forced the victim into caring for her children and cleaning her house, but was estimated to have profited £100,000 in government benefits that she claimed in the victim's name.
It was not until 2021 that police were first alerted about a potential abuse situation.
A family member of Wixon became aware of how malnourished the victim was and was shocked by the living conditions, which have been described by media outlets as "squalid."
A shocking image of the victim's living space shows a small, cramped room with chipped yellow and brown paint on the walls and dirty blankets strewn around.
Police described it as a prison cell.
When officers made contact with the victim she said:
“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.”
Police described her as “skin and bones.” They noted that she had scarring on her face and lips, and that she had cleaned so much and so constantly over the years that she had developed large calluses on her feet and ankles.
Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher, who worked the case, said he did not believe Wixon saw the victim as a human being.
The Independent (UK) wrote that one neighbor said she had seen the victim being hit with a broom.
Neighbors in the Priors Park area of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, referred to Amanda Wixon, or Mandy as they knew her, as "the witch."
They said Wixon would verbally abuse people in the street and that it was normal to hear arguing and shouting from the home.
Children in the street knew not to go near the residence.
The victim, whom neighbors said they did see outside on occasion, seemed scared and extremely thin. They were not completely sure who the victim was in relation to Wixon and assumed she was either a family member or someone helping with childcare.
In court, prosecutors described the treatment as “years of torment,” and the judge said it was “Dickensian.”
It was also revealed in court that social services were involved with the family in the late 1990s; however, there were no further records. The victim had no records anywhere, medical or otherwise.
Edward Hollingsworth, Wixon's defense lawyer, accused the victim of fabricating the story. Hollingsworth claimed it was a "child-like fantasy" and called the situation complicated. He stated that the other children in the household also lived in "squalid conditions," did not attend school, were unvaccinated, had severe dental issues, and had head lice.
During sentencing, the judge said of Wixon:
“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 victim moved in with a foster family and is going to therapy to help combat the psychological damage she is suffering from after more than two decades of captivity and abuse.
After hearing the verdict, Wixon was asked if she was sorry for what she had done.
She said she was not and denied the crimes:
“No. I never done it,” she said.
Sources:
Mother is jailed for enslaving woman for 25 years, BBC
Tewkesbury woman jailed for 13 years for modern day slavery offences, Gloucestershire police, UK
