A woman, infamously known as ‘The Witch,’ who kept another woman trapped in her home as a domestic slave for a quarter of a century, has been handed a prison sentence.

Amanda Wixon, aged 56, once worked as a cleaner and volunteered at Tewkesbury Abbey. She confined her victim in a squalid, mold-infested room, rationed her food, and resorted to physical abuse if household chores were not completed to her satisfaction.

The victim, whose identity remains protected, was deprived of access to basic hygiene facilities and medical treatment. She was forced into relentless cleaning tasks, often required to scrub floors while on her knees.

Wixon’s cruelty extended to squirting dish soap down the victim’s throat, splashing bleach on her face, and forcibly shaving her head multiple times.

During a court session on Thursday, where Wixon’s sentence was announced, the victim, now 42, recounted the harrowing experience that stole 25 years from her life.

In a poignant victim impact statement relayed by prosecutor Sam Jones, the woman, who has learning disabilities, expressed how the ‘trauma and the nightmares’ continue to haunt her daily existence.

‘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 had no teeth – either having rotted or been knocked out after she was assaulted with a broom handle. 

A police officer who found her said she smelt heavily of body odour, even from two metres away, was malnourished, timid and frightened.

Asked by police when the woman last had a bath, Wixon said: ‘I can’t really remember’ video footage reveals. 

There are now calls for social services to explain how the victim slipped through the net.

Neighbours claim they reported their concerns in the early 2000s, and again in 2018. Social services were involved with the family in the late 1990s but there were no records of any contact since then.

After Wixon was jailed for 13 years, the woman’s new foster carer called for an inquiry into why she was not discovered sooner.

She said: ‘It’s just a horrible situation which should never have happened. I think social services should be more alert and then maybe no one else will go through what she has been through.’

In a case described as ‘Dickensian’ by the judge, she was beaten and kicked regularly by Wixon and on several occasions thrown down the stairs.

On one occasion, Wixon held her head down the toilet while she flushed the chain.

The victim was initially allowed out of the house and neighbours remember seeing her, but when she was later shut indoors, Wixon told people she had moved to Scotland with a boyfriend to account for her disappearance. 

In notes to herself, K wrote about dreaming of seeing sunshine again.

Wixon, who has 10 children of her own, was found guilty in January of false imprisonment, two charges of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, and four charges of 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 denim jacket and scarf sat with her arms folded and showed no emotion as she was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Thursday.

The victim, now aged 42, watched proceedings via a video link from the court next door. 

She cried several times and had to leave the room for several minutes as details of her life with Wixson were outlined.

Passing sentence Judge Ian Lawrie KC said Wixon was in ‘permanent denial’ about the impact of her offending on the woman, idenitified as ‘K’.

‘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 judge said that Wixon could not plead ignorance about K’s learning disabilities or vulnerabilities.

He said it is clear how ’emotionally and psychologically vulnerable’ K is.

‘You can’t plead ignorance about her condition or her vulnerability… you effectively crushed her spirit,’ he said.

‘Firstly, K was effectively your servant, your slave and carried out domestic work in your own.

‘Secondly it was inferentially clear to me, that your actions of taking [the victim] into your care was predicated on taking opportunistic advantage of the fact [the victim], due to her mental health needs, qualified for assorted benefits when she moved into your care. 

‘I don’t take the view you planned that process but you took advantage when you realised it would give you ready access to money.

‘Those benefits in the approximate sum of £100,000 were paid to you and not passed onto [the victim]. 

You were prompted and driven by a calculated financial imperative to ensure it was you who exclusively got the benefits.’

He added that K now requires 24-hour care in the long-term, due to the neglect and psychological abuse she suffered.

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’.

Since being rescued, she is now living with a foster family, attending college and has been on holiday.

In her statement she described how her life has changed since leaving Wixon’s house and the long-lasting impact of her abuse and imprisonment. 

She said: ‘When I got my own bedroom at [my carer’s] it was amazing – I had a clean, comfortable bed and a safe house. I have been able to do colouring, write poems and do things which I was never allowed to do, simple things such as watching television when I wanted to.

‘Being rescued by the police in 2021 saved me, but the damage did not stop that day and I am struggling to heal.

‘I keep getting flash backs as well as the nightmares. The flash backs are worse, I see Mandy in the bathroom, in the kitchen and she follows me up the stairs.’

Ian Fletcher, detective superintendent at Gloucestershire police, Wixon had managed to keep K captive so long because she was ‘manipulative and controlling’ towards her own family. 

Wixon still denies she has done anything wrong, and has shown no remorse for her actions, he said.

K told police that sometimes Wixon’s children would sneak her biscuits, but if she was caught eating them, she would get a beating.

‘I think we believe that Wixon was very, very manipulative over her own family and over her own husband and her own children.

‘Ultimately, it was one of Wixon’s children actually reported this to the police, so down the line they have finally come through,’ Fletcher added.

Speaking outside Gloucester Crown Court after Wixon was jailed, Detective Chief Inspector David Shore-Nye, said the case had ‘shocked the nation’.

‘Today, Wixon has been sentenced to 13 years in jail. 

‘Whilst it is a fitting sentence for her crimes, there is no poetic justice here. 

‘There is no prison sentence that could reflect the pain and suffering she has inflicted on the victim or bring back the decades she stole from her.

‘Despite the wealth of evidence presented in court following our investigation, Wixon has continually denied her crimes and shown no remorse. 

‘Perhaps now, with many years in prison ahead of her, she will have the time to reflect on her actions which have led her to a prison cell.

‘Our thoughts remain with the victim for the tremendous strength and courage she has shown in the face of an unimaginable adversity. And we wish her well as she continues to heal with the help of her loving carer.

‘This case serves as a reminder to us all of the vulnerability that can exist behind closed doors. It challenges us to remain vigilant, to question things that don’t look or feel right and to speak up for those who may not be able to speak up for themselves.’

Rachael Scott of the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘The victim in this case was subjected to decades of torment, exploitation and control. She was denied her freedom, made to live in appalling physical and emotional conditions, and forced to act at the whim of the woman who imprisoned her.

‘Over the years of captivity, which she was only able to track by the passing of each Christmas, she was left to live off the crumbs that Wixon provided, while suffering unimaginable abuse and experiencing no acts of kindness at all.

‘Despite all of this, the progress she has made since finding freedom is remarkable and a true testament to her strength.

‘Our thoughts remain with her, and I hope that today’s sentence brings her some comfort as she continues to rebuild her life.’