Janice Nix, 66, denied killing her stepdaughter Andrea Bernard who died after she suffered 50 per cent burns to her body when she was allegedly forced into the hot bath
A stepmother accused of killing a five-year-old girl with a scalding hot bath allegedly told the child’s young brother that she would not hit him again if he claimed it was an accident, a court has heard.
Janice Nix, 67, has denied manslaughter against Andrea Bernard by punishing her with a hot bath in Thornton Heath, south London, on June 6 1978.
The defendant, of Clapham, south London, has also denied cruelty to Andrea’s brother Desmond Bernard between October 1 1975 and June 6 1978, when he was seven to nine years old.
Andrea’s death was treated as an accident for nearly half a century until her brother contacted police with new information in September 2022, Isleworth Crown Court heard at the trial opening on Tuesday.
During voluntary police interview, Nix gave a “completely different” version of events to the one she provided the coroner in 1978, prosecutor Kerry Broome said. Mr Bernard had approached the force after his sister’s death “had become a burden he could no longer carry”, she added.
The defendant had been in a relationship with the children’s father, also named Desmond Bernard, and was in effect their stepmother, the court heard.
Nix, then called Janice Thomas and in her late teenage years, had the main responsibility for their care as their father was often away working as a chauffeur, jurors were told.
Mr Bernard told police that Andrea “had been blamed for something” on the evening before the bath, but he could not recall what. Consequently, Nix said the girl could not go to school and must stay behind and clean, he claimed.
“Desmond knew this meant Andrea would be beaten, but recalls being relieved it would not be him”, Ms Broome summarised. The boy discovered his sister was at school and assumed she “was no longer in trouble”, the court heard.
“Given what happened later, it may have been… that Andrea had escaped the house and went to school without the defendant’s knowledge, which made her very angry indeed”, the prosecutor said.
Nix was “fuming” when they returned home together – hitting Andrea and shouting that she had told her to remain at home, Mr Bernard told police.
He claimed he went straight to his bedroom and could hear Nix beating Andrea through his bedroom door. He said he then heard her walk into the bathroom next door and water starting to run, around 15 to 30 minutes after the children had arrived.
He allegedly heard Nix call for Andrea to get in the bath, and Ms Broome told jurors: “Desmond could not see what was happening in the bathroom, but he heard Andrea screaming, and saying `it’s hot, it’s hot.
“Janice kept shouting at her to get in. He says `Andrea would not stop screaming and I can’t remember how long it went on for, but then it just stopped’.”
Nix told his sister to wake up before asking him to come into the room, Mr Bernard told police. He claimed she was cradling a “limp” Andrea in a towel and she was not awake.
The prosecution summarised: “Janice seemed scared and asked him to say it was an accident and that Andrea fell into the bath. She promised never to hit him again if he said that, so that is what he did: he told everyone it was an accident, and Janice never hit him again.”
During the inquest, Nix had claimed that Andrea and her brother had looked dirty when they returned from school at about 4pm.
She said she told the children to have a bath upstairs, put on clean clothes and come back to the garden – the boy went first, the court heard.
Andrea was upstairs for about 15 to 20 minutes which “did not really seem a long time to me, she is a bit slow”, Nix said. The girl returned to the garden wearing a dress and complaining of itchy legs, the defendant had claimed.
She added that she “did not hear her call out at all” and it would have been possible to pick that up. Andrea’s skin on her leg was reddish and peeling off as she scratched it, she said.
Nix also told the inquest that Andrea had fainted and an ambulance took her to the Mayday Hospital, Croydon, south London. “She did not say anything on the way to hospital about what had happened to her”, she told the coroner.
Decades later, Nix told police that she had immediately run to the bathroom after hearing Andrea screaming. The girl was scrambling to get out of the bath and Nix lifted her out, she said.
Her neighbour James Henry followed Nix into the house and gave her something to wrap Andrea in, she said. The child had “water blisters” on her skin and Mr Henry drove her to Mayday Hospital, she said.
The defendant also claimed that Mr Bernard made false allegations against her because he felt short-changed by his father’s inheritance.
In addition, she told officers: “Andrea died as a result of a tragic accident caused by a malfunctioning boiler which overheated the water used for the bath.”
It is not disputed that Andrea died in hospital on July 13 1978 as a result of complications from the burn injuries. Silver-haired Nix appeared in court wearing a blue jacket and trousers, a beige blouse, and glasses. For a large portion of proceedings she stared directly at Ms Broome who was speaking.
The trial continues.
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