A scratch card addict dubbed ‘The Witch’ who kept a vulnerable woman imprisoned as a house slave for 25 years has been jailed.
Amanda Wixon, 56, a former cleaner and volunteer at Tewkesbury Abbey, kept the woman in a filthy, mouldy room, restricted food and beat her if she failed to complete jobs around the house.
The victim, who cannot be named, was denied washing facilities and medical care and forced to clean extensively, often on her knees.
She also had washing-up liquid squirted down her throat, bleach splashed on her face and her head repeatedly shaved against her will.
Describing her ordeal in court on Thursday ahead of Wixon’s sentencing, she told how she had ‘lost 25 years’ of her life.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Sam Jones, the victim, who has learning difficulties, told how the ‘trauma and the nightmares’ were something she carried with her every day.
‘I am now living with a wonderful family who show me kindness, patience and support,’ she said.
‘Their love is helping me slowly rebuild the life that was taken from me and begin to feel safe again.
‘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.’
The woman was aged 16 when Wixon moved her into her home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, in the mid-1990s under the guise of caring for her.
But Wixson ‘almost immediately’ took her to the benefits office to make sure her benefits were paid directly to her.
Police estimate she took almost £100,000 – around £400 a week – which was intended for the victim but never spent on her.
By the time she was rescued by police in 2021 following a tip off, the woman, by then in her early 40s, had no teeth – either having rotted or been knocked out after she was assaulted with a broom handle.
Amanda Wixon pictured arriving Gloucester Crown Court for sentencing after being found guilty in January of human slavery offences,
The room where the victim slept at Amanda Wixon’s home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
Wixon made no comment when she arrived at court and was asked if she would like to apologise to her victim
Wixon, who has 10 children of her own, was found guilty in January of false imprisonment, requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial.
The court heard how after moving into Wixon’s home, the woman had effectively ‘disappeared’ from society.
Secret voice notes made by the victim reveal she longed to go outside and walk the family dog Marley but had bin liners put up against the window so she could not even see outside.
Wixon, in a demin jacket and scarf sat with her arms folded and showed no emotion as she was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Thursday.
The victim watched proceedings via a video link from the court next door.
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,’ the judge 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.’
The semi-detached home in Tewkesbury where the victim was held by Wixon for 25 years
Amanda Wixon in a video taken by police at the time of her arrest at her home in 2021
Bodycam footage issued by Gloucestershire Constabulary of Wixon being interviewed by officers
Since being rescued, she is now living with a foster family, attending college and has been on holiday.
Ian Fletcher, detective superintendent at Gloucestershire police, said had been drawing, writing poet and taking walks in the sunshine.
‘She is now living a better life,’ he said, ‘but she is still suffering quite badly, she has flashbacks.
‘She is doing much better, she has got a caring environment behind her but she will suffer for the rest of her life. She has severe psycoloigical trauma.’
Laura Burgess, a senior prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, added: ‘The progress she has made since being removed from this oppressive environment is a testament to her strength.
‘Our thoughts remain with her as she continues to rebuild her life, and I hope she can find some comfort in seeing justice delivered.’
Edward Hollingsworth, in mitigation for Wixon, said there was no question of the harm K experienced her hands. But said she should be considered as ‘somewhat vulnerable in her own right’.
‘She received limited education… she presents, in my submission, as someone with relatively low intellectuality,’ he said.
Mr Hollingsworth added the offences were ‘heartless, but not sophisticated’.
Wixon’s first husband and father of seven of her 10 children is an alcoholic, and her current husband has learning difficulties, Hollingsworth added.
A number of her children also have their own vulnerabilities.
‘Your honour will also recall the messy neglected appearance of her home and of her own appearance,’ Hollingsworth added, asking the judge to note her ‘lack of any teeth’.
