Overview
- A jury at Isleworth Crown Court convicted Janice Nix, 67, of manslaughter for the 1978 death of five‑year‑old Andrea Bernard and of cruelty for repeated assaults on her brother, with the verdict returned on Tuesday.
- Andrea died nearly six weeks after being admitted with burns to about half her body that doctors recorded in 1978, and the original coroner’s inquest had ruled the death accidental.
- Detectives reopened the case after Andrea’s brother Desmond came forward in 2022 and investigators recovered a 16‑page coroner’s report and hospital records that contradicted earlier accounts.
- At trial Desmond said he heard Nix shouting ‘get in the bath’ and Andrea crying that the water was too hot, and he testified he was forced for decades to call the incident an accident to avoid further beatings.
- A burns expert told jurors the injuries were unlikely to be accidental because a child would try to escape very hot water, and Nix has been remanded for sentencing with the case cited as an example of how cold‑case reviews can change earlier findings and bring delayed accountability.