Boy hid sister's 1978 scald death to 'stop abuse', court hears

The brother of a five-year-old girl allegedly killed by their father's girlfriend in a scalding bath in 1978 tearfully told jurors he called her death an accident because he wanted the beatings to stop. Janice Nix, 67, is accused of manslaughter by putting Andrea Bernard in a hot bath as a form of punishment when they lived in Thornton Heath, south London. Andrea's death was treated as an accident until her older brother Desmond Bernard went to police in 2022, Isleworth Crown Court heard. Giving evidence, Bernard, now 56, said Nix regularly beat the children, even for not folding their clothes "to her standards". Nix denies all the charges against her. He described Nix as physically "strong" with a "heavy-set build". Bernard alleged Nix beat him with a belt, burned him with a cigarette, bit him, and made him eat cat food, all while he was seven to nine years old. Jurors heard that on 6 June 1978, Nix was "furious" after Andrea ignored instructions not to leave the house and to help clean instead. When they arrived home, Nix shouted at Andrea in an "extremely loud" voice before beating her, the court heard. Bernard said he later heard the bath running. He went on: "I could hear Jani