HIDDEN on a quiet street, neighbours had no idea of the horrors being unleashed by evil mum-of-10 Amanda Wixon, nicknamed “The Witch”.
Behind the simple brick exterior of the two-storey council house hid a lair of fear where a vulnerable captive was held for 25 years as a modern slave.
Amanda Wixon, 56, known as ‘The Witch’, has been jailed for 13 yearsCredit: – Commissioned by The Sun
The victim was forced to sleep in a squalid bedroom on a filthy mattressCredit: PA
The victim was rarely allowed to see outside the council home in Tewkesbury, GloucestershireCredit: – Commissioned by The Sun
The victim, known only as K, endured horrific abuse in the grim home from the age of 14, including regular beatings and humiliation, while confined to a tiny squalid prison cell bedroom.
She was taken in by Wixon, 56 – who was on Thursday – in 1996 due to her own parents, described in as members of the tyrant’s “extended family”, having “difficulties”.
Wixon fed her on scraps, and forced her to look after her huge brood of kids and their pets every day, as well as clean the home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
Several neighbours have told The Sun how they had no idea about going on just yards away from them, but witnessed other vile behaviour, speaking of their relief she’d finally been locked up.
While glancing over at the house of horrors, one fumed: “Good riddance to her.”
And K’s foster mum, who cannot be named, has also suffered, saying: “Nobody did anything – that’s what I don’t understand, they just left her there to suffer.”
In a note written by K, now in her mid 40s, and read out by her foster mum, 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.”
K – who has learning difficulties – slept on a filthy mattress and was forbidden from helping herself to even basic or using the kettle.
Wixon was arrested after K called for help with a secretCredit: Gloucestershire Constabulary
The victim slept on a filthy bed in a mould-covered roomCredit: PA
Wixon was this week jailed for 13 yearsCredit: PA
Wixon also hit her in the face with a broom handle, causing her to lose several , and on one occasion held her head down the toilet while she flushed the chain.
She even , splashed bleach on her face and repeatedly shaved her head against her will.
K rarely left the house and the kitchen windows were covered with black bin liners to prevent her looking outside.
She branded her captor “The Witch”, as a result of her treatment – described as “Dickensian” by a judge.
The nightmare ordeal only came to an end in March 2021 when the victim called for help from a secret phone – and dramatic bodycam footage shows Wixon being arrested as she lounged on the sofa.
When officers rescued her, K told them: “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.”
One neighbour told The Sun this week: “I hope this long jail sentence can help to one day give the victim some closure and a sense that justice has been done.
“Personally, I’d like to have seen the judge lock her up for the rest of her days, but it is a significant sentence.
“The poor victim still has not received an apology from Mandy and that is a shame.
“I hope in the months and years ahead she can find it in herself to be big enough to do that.
“ She is a wicked, wicked witch.”
‘The Witch poured bleach in her mouth…’ Foster mum reveals horror abuse suffered by girl kept as slave for 25 years
By and
A MUM has opened up on the horror abuse her foster daughter suffered after she was kept as a slave by a woman she dubbed “The Witch” for more than two decades.
From the age of 14, the victim was beaten, starved, locked in cupboards and kept in a squalid prison cell by Amanda Wixon.
The tormenter also trapped her in darkness and battered her with a broom handle – causing her to lose several teeth.
Wixon was this week after she was convicted of false imprisonment, two counts of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and four of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The victim – known only as K – is now with a foster family and attends lessons in maths and English at a local college.
Her foster mum, who cannot be named, has opened up about the abuse she suffered while living at the filthy home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
She said: “She said the abuser squeezed washing up liquid down her throat and poured bleach in her mouth as well.
“Even now she’s got scars on her mouth, it’s just horrible.”
The mum also told how K was forced to look after Wixon’s ten children and was not even allowed to wash.
She continued: “She wasn’t being looked after at all. She was starving, [Wixon] would bash her – locked her in the room, put black bags over the window so she couldn’t get any light.
“Basically, she wasn’t allowed to do anything.”
Gloucester Crown Court heard the girl was 14 when Wixon took her captive in 1996 in a case described as “Dickensian” by the judge.
Her parents, described in court as members of her “extended family”, were having “difficulties”.
But instead of showing her love, K was beaten and kicked regularly by Wixon and on several occasions thrown down the stairs.
During one harrowing attack, Wixon pushed her head into the toilet as she pulled the chain.
K rarely left the house and the windows were covered with black bin liners to prevent her from looking outside.
She was forced to clean up after Wixon and her children and only ate leftovers once a day.
Social services were involved with the family in the late 1990s but there were no records of any contact since.
K also had no medical or dental records and had not seen a doctor in two decades.
Her foster mum said: “She called her the witch, she was petrified of her. Terrified.
“She was a proper slave.
“Nobody did anything, what’s what I don’t understand they just left her there to suffer.”
The nightmare ordeal only came to an end in 2021 when the victim called for help from a secret phone.
When officers rescued her, K told them: “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.”
Following K’s rescue, bodycam showed the filthy room she was forced to sleep in for 25 years.
Plaster could be seen chipping from the mould-riddled walls with crumped sheets scattered on the dirty bed.
One officer uncovered a tiny note from under a yellow pillow with several phone numbers scribbled on it.
In a note written by K and read out by her foster mum, 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 now helping me rebuild the life that was taken from me.
“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.”
Other residents echoed this stance, telling The Sun their neighbour from hell deserved to be punished for the wicked crimes she hid from them.
Another neighbour, glancing at the corner plot where two council houses were knocked into one to accommodate the large Wixon family, said: “Good riddance to her.
“I am glad the awful truth of what she put that poor young woman through has finally come out.
“ I hope she can now begin the process of rebuilding her life and secure a happy future somehow.”
In January, “The Witch” was , two counts of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and four of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Passing sentence, Judge Ian Lawrie KC said Wixon was in “permanent denial” about the impact of her offending on the woman.
“The gravity of your offending is so serious that I am imposing a significant period of custody,” he 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.”
Police released bodycam footage of the evil captor’s arrest in March 2021Credit: PA
Wixon, who has refused to acknowledge her crimes, arrives at Gloucester Crown CourtCredit: – Commissioned by The Sun
The foster mum of victim K spoke of her horror
After being taken in by Wixon in 1996, K was starved to “skin and bone”, with her captor feeding her just leftover scraps of food once a day and making her work as a house slave.
Following K’s rescue, bodycam showed the filthy room she was forced to sleep in for 25 years.
Plaster could be seen chipping from the mould-riddled walls with crumped sheets scattered on the dirty bed.
Locals living on the sprawling housing estate where K was held prisoner for 25 years previously told The Sun Wixon was “controlling”.
One, who was at school with several of Wixon’s children, said: “K spent her days and nights scrubbing, sweeping, cleaning and looking after the then-young children.”
One neighbour told The Sun: “She treated her children appallingly. I’d often see her in the street when they were younger and she seemed nasty and vindictive.
“She’d always be pointing a finger at one of them and yelling at them, telling them how useless and ungrateful they were.
“My heart breaks at the thought of what this poor young woman she treated us a slave must’ve gone through.”
Most neighbours on the busy estate said they had never seen K, and had been astonished when they learnt of her shocking abuse in the seemingly innocuous house.
Summing up ahead of sentencing, Judge Lawrie KC told the jury: “There is almost a Dickensian quality to this case.
“The prosecution case is that she was held prisoner in this crowded house, where she was regularly assaulted physically and emotionally.
“You have to decide whether Mandy, who had young children when she took K in, did it out of selfless kindness towards her or because she was selfish and took advantage of a vulnerable, helpless youngster.”
The jury at Gloucester Crown Court found Wixon guilty of a string of offences including requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, false imprisonment, and assault.
Do you know more? Email clare.walsh@thesun.co.uk
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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