Amanda Wixon, 56, held the woman, who is now in her 40s and cannot be named, in squalid conditions and regularly squirted washing-up liquid down her throat, it’s been revealed
A mum who kept a woman prisoner as a house slave for 25 years was repeatedly reported to social services, her neighbours have claimed.
Amanda Wixon, 56, held the woman, who is now in her 40s and cannot be named, in squalid conditions and regularly squirted washing-up liquid down her throat. Wixon, who has 10 children, was found guilty of false imprisonment, requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Gloucester Crown Court on Wednesday.
Neighbours claim they reported their concerns in the early 2000s, and again in 2018. Hayley Nuttall, 55, who lives near Wixon’s address in Tewkesbury, Glos, told how her mum reported concerns over two decades ago and she herself urged the council to investigate in 2018.
She told the court: “I said, there’s a girl next door. I said I seen her the other day, I haven’t seen her for a long time. I said that needs to be dealt with, you go for families that just need some support, but that next door needs to be looked into. You could see the state of her, she was thin and her head was always shaved.”
Another neighbour, Kiram, said she called social services many times “but nothing was ever done.” She recalled seeing the victim being beaten up “like a rag doll,” adding: “It was disgusting. I made phone calls for social services, nothing was ever done. Social services failed her massively.”
Another friend said: “There were so many of them living in such a small house you would think that social services would have had some contact with them. My first reaction on hearing about what has been going on is I can’t believe social services had no interaction with them at all.”
The victim – who has learning disabilities – was only able to escape after police were called to the address by one of Wixon’s own sons in March 2021. Officers said the woman had scarring to her face and calluses on her feet and ankles from cleaning on her hands and knees.
The victim’s bedroom was compared by police to a “prison cell” and she had lost many of her teeth. Since being rescued, the woman is now living with a foster family, attending college and has been on holidays abroad. Outside court, Wixon, who denied the charges, expressed no remorse and said: “Why would I be sorry for something I claim I had never done?”
Wixon, who has been released on conditional bail, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12.
