A former drug dealer who turned her life around and worked as a probation worker has been found guilty of killing her five-year-old stepdaughter in 1978. The case was reopened after new evidence emerged, and the stepmother was returned to prison.
A drugs kingpin-turned- probation worker has been found guilty of scalding her five-year-old stepdaughter to death in 1978 after new evidence exposed the killer's lies. Janice Nix has been returned to prison - years after she was put away for serious drugs offences - after jurors dismissed her account of how little Andrea Bernard was burnt by a hot bath.
Detectives praised Andrea's older brother Desmond for coming forward in 2022 and recalling how he heard his little sister scream 'the bath is too hot, mummy', placing Nix at the scene. He initially covered for Nix, who was then 19, after she promised not to beat him again if he backed her claims that she was outside, but said he could no longer live with the secret.
Nix, who retired from the Probation Service in 2019 after turning her life around, repeatedly changed her account of what happened, successfully convincing a coroner that Andrea's death was a 'tragic accident'. But she shook her head and then cried hysterically as she was unanimously convicted today of manslaughter and child cruelty following a three-week trial at Isleworth Crown Court in west London.
Police commended Mr Bernard's courage and said: 'Without him, there would be no case, there would be no answers for Andrea.
' In a statement, Desmond said: 'Today's verdict brings a sense of justice and accountability for the incredibly horrific and tragic events of 48 years ago. Janice Nix has been convicted over the death of her stepdaughter, five-year-old Andrea Bernard, in 1978. The former drug dealer was later commended for her work with the Probation Service following her release from prison in the 2000s.
The court heard how Andrea suffered severe burns to 50% of her body following the incident at the family home in Thornton Heath, south London nearly 50 years ago. Mr Bernard, now 56, described how his stepmother was 'furious' with Andrea when the pair got home from school on Tuesday June 6 1978. Nix was arrested at Heathrow airport in 2025 after returning from Antigua.
In her 2021 memoirs, published by HarperCollins, she admitted having 'a fiery temper', wanting to exact violent revenge on a rival drug dealer, and disclosed how her 'anger was murderous' when a close friend was beaten up. There is no mention of the bath incident with Andrea. In fact Desmond said it was the book which prompted him to speak to police.
In a statement upon conviction, he said: 'I was so distressed by the things she said, I could not stop thinking of Andrea and all the abuse we had suffered.
'I decided then and there I needed to deal with this, so I sought counselling and through this was able to take the first steps to lifting the burden which was not mine to carry.
Drugs Probation Worker Manslaughter Child Cruelty Conviction New Evidence Bath Incident Therapeutic Work Memoirs Beatings Rival Drug Dealer Anger Therapy Burden Justice Accountability Therapeutic Work Memoirs Beatings Rival Drug Dealer Anger Therapy Burden
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Former Drug Dealer and Probation Officer Convicted of 1978 Manslaughter of StepdaughterJanice Nix, once a drug kingpin turned probation worker, was found guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty for scalding her five‑year‑old stepdaughter Andrea Bernard to death in 1978, after new testimony from the victim's brother overturned her long‑standing claims of an accident.
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