A UK court has jailed a mother of 10, Mandy Wixon, after finding her guilty of keeping a woman with learning difficulties captive for 25 years and forcing her into domestic servitude.

The offences took place at Wixon’s home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, where the victim was made to clean the house, live on limited food and remain indoors for years.

The court heard that washing-up liquid was squirted into the woman’s mouth, bleach splashed on her face, and her head was shaved repeatedly against her will.

At Gloucester Crown Court, Judge Ian Lawrie described the case as having a “Dickensian quality” as Wixon was convicted of false imprisonment, requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Mandy Wixon was arrested after one of her sons raised concerns with the authorities.

Prosecutors said the victim was born into a troubled family and, at about 16 years old in 1996, was handed over to Wixon, who had a loose connection to her relatives.

Now in her 40s, the woman, identified as K, was found by police on 15 March 2021 following a welfare alert from Wixon’s son.

The court heard that K was regularly beaten and struck with a broom handle, causing her to lose teeth. Her movements were restricted, her food was controlled, and she was forced to wash secretly at night.

Police described her bedroom as resembling a “prison cell.”

She told officers: “I don’t want to be here. I don’t feel safe. Mandy hits me all the time. I don’t like it.”

Det Sgt Alex Pockett said: “When the police arrived, the victim had her head held down; it was clear she was extremely scared.”

Prosecutor Sam Jones told the jury: “By the late 1990s it appears the woman disappeared into a black hole. Not a single meeting that left a record or a single sighting of her outside the house.” (BBC)