A stepmother who killed a five-year-old girl by forcing her into a scalding hot bath as punishment has been convicted of manslaughter decades after the horrific act. Janice Nix, 67, forced Andrea Bernard into the bath at the family home in Thornton Heath, south London, in 1978.
Brother's Courageous Testimony
Andrea's death had been recorded as an accident until her elder brother, Desmond Bernard, approached police in 2022 with a fresh account of the tragic events, Isleworth Crown Court was told. Nix, from Clapham, south London, shook her head before breaking down in tears in the dock as she was also found guilty of cruelty towards Mr Bernard between October 1975 and June 1978, when he was aged between seven and nine.
Taking the stand during the trial, Mr Bernard, now 56, tearfully informed jurors that he had originally described his sister's death as an accident because he wanted Nix to stop beating him. He revealed that Nix struck him with a belt, burned him with a cigarette, bit him, and forced him to eat cat food. He added that Nix routinely beat the children, even for failing to fold their clothes to her standards, and described her as physically strong with a heavy-set build.
Details of the Fatal Incident
Jurors were told that on June 6, 1978, Nix was furious after Andrea disregarded instructions to remain indoors and help with cleaning. Nix screamed at Andrea in an extremely loud voice before beating her, the court was told. Mr Bernard said he subsequently heard the bath being run. He continued: 'I could hear Janice shouting get in the bath and I could hear Andrea saying the bath is too hot mummy. I could hear Janice shouting get in the bath, get in the bath and then I heard screaming and splashing. Then I heard the screaming stopped and I could hear Janice calling Andrea to wake up, wake up.'
When prosecutor Kerry Broome asked how Nix had sounded, he responded: 'She sounded scared.' Mr Bernard told the court he then stepped into the bathroom and found Nix cradling Andrea, who was limp and wrapped in a towel. He went on: 'I could see skin falling off her.' When asked whether Nix had said anything, Mr Bernard replied: 'She asked me to say it was an accident... and to say that we were in the garden when it happened and that she would never beat me again.'
Years of Silence
Questioned about his response, he said: 'I lied, I told everyone that story.' When pressed as to why, Mr Bernard answered: 'Because I didn't feel protected, I just wanted it to stop.' He told jurors he lived in constant fear of Nix's beatings and had kept silent out of dread of being punished more. Explaining why he eventually chose to speak out about his sister's death, Mr Bernard said: 'I couldn't carry on dealing with it, so that's what I did. To place this burden where it should go.'
The court heard that Andrea passed away nearly six weeks after being admitted to hospital with burns covering 50% of her body. A burns specialist informed the trial that a child subjected to water sufficiently hot to inflict Andrea's injuries would naturally attempt to escape by getting up, rather than staying seated. The prosecution contended this indicated Nix must have deliberately held portions of Andrea's body beneath the water.
Nix's Changing Accounts
Nix, who at the time went by Janice Thomas and was in her late teens, had been involved with the children's father, also named Desmond Bernard, and effectively served as their stepmother, the court was told. During the 1978 inquest probe, Nix had originally maintained Andrea bathed alone and subsequently complained of itchy legs before losing consciousness, jurors were informed. However, she acknowledged during her trial to providing a misleading version of events to the coroner because she was in a panic over having neglected to supervise Andrea while she bathed. 'I realised I had done something I shouldn't have done: I should have been with Andrea,' she told jurors. 'I was young and I was clearly not thinking. On hindsight now, I see my negligence as a teenager.'
The defendant additionally informed the court she did not at the time appreciate the bathwater was dangerously hot, stating: 'All I know is that she was in distress, her legs were red, they had bubbles on them... I didn't know how hot the water was.' During a 2022 police questioning, Nix provided an account that varied significantly from her initial statement from the period, having not been informed that officers had located it, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. She further alleged that the coroner determined Andrea's death resulted from an overheated bath due to a defective boiler - a detail absent from the report.
Arrest and Conviction
Nix was detained at Heathrow Airport on February 18, 2025, following her arrival on a flight from Antigua, and faced charges the same day. She had denied both charges of manslaughter and cruelty to a child. Detective Inspector Louise Caveen, from the Met's cold case homicide team, said: 'This is a particularly tragic case and my thoughts ultimately remain with Andrea's family, whose lives were changed irrevocably back in 1978. In particular, I want to pay tribute to Desmond, who bravely made the decision to come forward and speak to us, as well as giving evidence at trial. It is thanks to his courage that Nix has now been found guilty and will finally be held responsible for her actions.'
Aisling Hosein of the Crown Prosecution Service said: 'This was a harrowing case where Janice Nix subjected Andrea and her older brother to a sustained period of abuse, culminating in the tragic death of a five-year-old girl after she was forced into a scalding hot bath. This prosecution only came about after Andrea's brother reported his stepmother's actions to police in September 2022, resulting in the circumstances into what happened on that day in 1978 being re-examined. I can only imagine the enormous courage this must have taken to come forward after being told as a child to say the incident was just an accident. It is thanks to him that we have been able to secure justice today on behalf of Andrea almost five decades on.'
