Stepmum jailed for 1978 killing of girl, 5

A woman who killed her five-year-old stepdaughter by scalding her in a bath in 1978 has been jailed for 12 years.

Janice Nix, 67, punished Andrea Bernard by forcing her into the piping hot water in Thornton Heath, south London, nearly 50 years ago.

Andrea suffered severe burns to half her body and died in hospital on 13 July 1978, five weeks later. The jury heard her death had been treated as an accident until Andrea's older brother, Desmond Bernard, went to police in 2022.

Nix wept during sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court. Judge Justice Lavender said: "You ran the bath. You knew how hot it was…You heard her screams... At the very least the risk ought to have been obvious to you."

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.