A JUDGE on Thursday sentenced a mother-of-10 to 13 years in prison for forcing a vulnerable woman to work as a "house slave" for more than two decades.
Amanda Wixon kept the woman at her home in Gloucestershire, western England, where the victim was subjected to abuse for more than 25 years. The woman had been a teenager when the ordeal began.
The court heard that the victim, who has a learning disability, was forced to do manual labour, was assaulted and was deprived of food and healthcare during that time.
Gloucester Crown Court heard that Wixon, 56, regularly beat the victim, who is now in her 40s, including with a broom handle. On one occasion, the assault knocked out her teeth.
Wixon — referred to as "The Witch" by the victim — also squirted washing-up liquid down her throat, splashed bleach on her face and repeatedly shaved her head against her will.
The victim first moved into the home in 1995 and remained there until 2021.
Wixon was convicted in January of false imprisonment and modern-day slavery offences. These included two counts of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
"The gravity of your offending is so serious that I am imposing a significant period of custody," judge Ian Lawrie said while delivering the sentence on Thursday.
He added that Wixon was in "permanent denial" about the impact of her actions.
During the trial, the court heard that Wixon knew the victim through family connections and had spent time with her and her relatives before taking responsibility for her in 1996.
It also emerged that social services had been involved with the Wixon family in the late 1990s, but there were no records of further contact with any agency after that.
The victim now lives with a foster family and attends college, but has little understanding of the abuse she experienced, her anonymous foster mother said on Thursday.
She said the victim was terrified of Wixon and broke down in hysterics when she accidentally saw her in a supermarket recently.
"She called her The Witch," the foster mother told Britain's Press Association domestic news agency.
"She's really scared of her."
The foster mother added that the victim was "going through therapy" with "a good psychologist".
"I think she will be OK in time. But it's just going to take time."
(With inputs from agencies)
