A British mother-of-ten has been convicted of holding a woman captive for twenty-five years in a campaign of sustained abuse, forcing her to live as a family slave in appalling squalor. The victim, who was just sixteen when her ordeal began, was discovered with extensive injuries, a shaved head, and missing teeth after finally managing to escape the nightmarish imprisonment in 2021.
Decades of Captivity and Abuse
Amanda Wixon, 56, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, was found guilty of multiple counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, false imprisonment, and requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour. The court heard how Wixon lured her friend's daughter during what was supposed to be a weekend sleepover in 1997, then kept her prisoner for the next quarter-century.
Horrific Living Conditions
The victim was forced to live in what jurors described as "appalling" conditions within the overcrowded family home. She slept in a damp, mouldy bedroom with unpainted walls that resembled a prison cell, surviving on scraps of food while being denied basic hygiene for years at a time. Heartbreaking bodycam footage shown in court revealed the victim appearing thin, unwashed, and visibly terrified when police finally rescued her.
Prosecutor Sam Jones told Gloucester Crown Court: "She was kept in and prevented from leaving the address and she was assaulted and hit many, many times and forced to work with threats of violence. She had been denied food and the ability to wash over many years."
Systematic Abuse and Exploitation
The court heard detailed accounts of the systematic abuse inflicted upon the vulnerable woman, who has learning difficulties. Wixon, chillingly nicknamed 'The Witch' by her victim, shaved the woman's head, beat her with a broom, forced washing up liquid down her throat, and subjected her to multiple assaults including being stamped on, punched, pushed down stairs, and strangled.
While being denied the opportunity to wash herself, the victim was forced to bathe Wixon's children and run baths for her captor. She was made to clean the house constantly, often on her hands and knees, developing large calluses on her feet and ankles from the relentless labour. Neighbours described seeing her looking "like something out of a concentration camp" and "skin and bone" with a shaved head.
Financial Exploitation and Social Services Failures
Detective Sergeant Alex Pockett revealed that Wixon had been receiving the victim's benefits payments into her own bank account, receiving over £33,000 between 2016 and 2021 alone. He estimated that the total amount taken since the late 1990s would be "a considerable sum of money."
The case exposed significant failures by social services, with one neighbour testifying that she had repeatedly contacted authorities about her concerns but "nothing was ever done." The prosecutor noted that by the late 1990s, the victim "disappeared into a black hole" with no medical or dental records and no documented sightings outside the house for decades.
Miraculous Escape and Recovery
The victim's imprisonment finally ended in 2021 when she managed to use a phone she had secretly hidden to raise the alarm. Since her rescue, she has been living with a foster family, attending college, and has been able to go on holidays abroad. After being fitted with dentures, she became emotional upon seeing herself with teeth for the first time in years.
One neighbour who testified in the case said: "The victim is thriving. She is doing really well. She's like a completely different person. She's better in herself. She's got the opportunity to learn things now." However, the decades of trauma continue to affect her, with nightmares about her ordeal and a compulsive need to clean.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Wixon showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered at Gloucester Crown Court. Judge Ian Lawrie KC told her that a jail term was "a certainty" as he granted conditional bail ahead of sentencing scheduled for March. The defence had attempted to portray the prosecution case as "a tale of fantasy and lies," suggesting the allegations contained a "child-like fantasy" and that all family members lived in equally squalid conditions.
When leaving court, Wixon was asked what she had to say to her victim and replied: "Not a lot." Asked if she was sorry, she responded: "No. I never done it." Reporters questioned whether she was a "monster," to which she answered: "Say what you think."
Community Impact and Aftermath
The case has shocked the local community in Tewkesbury, with residents expressing disbelief that such abuse could occur unnoticed for so long. One resident questioned why none of Wixon's children had intervened, asking: "Why did none of them ever questioned why she was being treated that way? Why were they never made to scrub the floors?"
Detective Sergeant Pockett commented: "I've not come across a case like this and it's clear that it's had a massive impact on the victim." A spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council confirmed that Adult Social Care services have been supporting the victim since becoming aware of the situation in 2021 through the police investigation.
