Husband told tearful wife his stepmother killed his sister in a scalding bath

A husband reduced his wife to tears when he told her how his five-year-old sister was killed by his sadistic stepmother in a bath of scalding water, a court heard.

Janice Nix, now 67, allegedly meted out cruel punishments to daughter Andrea Bernard and then eight-year-old brother Desmond Bernard that went ‘beyond chastisement even by contemporary standards.’

Nix was 17 when she allegedly forced five-year-old Andrea into a bath at their home in Thornton Heath, south London, on June 6, 1978.

Andrea died in a specialist burns unit five weeks later.

The death was not treated as suspicious at the time and police only began investigating in 2022 after Desmond Bernard went to the police on October 6 that year, encouraged by his birth mother who said Nix was planning to release a book about her life.

Nix, of Rodenhurst Road, Clapham, denies the manslaughter of Andrea and child cruelty to Desmond.

Prosecutor Kerry Broome today (tues) read witness statements from Mr Bernard’s wife Karen Bernard, and his therapist Soraya Bedja, indicating the 56-year-old repeatedly told of the alleged abuse before speaking to police.

Mrs Bernard said the two knew each other from childhood and both spent time in America before they began dating in their late 20s.

Mr Bernard initially told her Andrea had died in an accident, but altered his story as the relationship developed, jurors heard.

‘Some time later in a heart to heart conversation on the telephone he said it had not been an accident but his sister died in a hot bath and it was the fault of Janice,’ Mrs Bernard said in her statement.

‘When he explained what had happened, I started to cry. He told me I was the first person who had believed him.’

Mrs Bernard said she recommended Mr Bernard seek counselling due to the way he handled situations, and he eventually started seeing Ms Bedja in 2021.

In her statement, Ms Bedja wrote: ‘He told me his sister was put into a scorching bath by his step mother when he was eight-years-old.

‘His sister died. He remembered her screaming, then it was quiet. He also described he had been abused, burnt with cigarettes and beaten.

‘In Desmond’s case he remembered the woman said to him “Don’t tell anyone and I will never hurt you again”.’

Ms Bedja also recalled Mr Bernard saying he was sent to live elsewhere after making disclosures to his father and mother.

‘As far as Desmond was concerned, by going to his dad he had been removed and his dad had carried on living with his step-mother,’ she added.

Nix denies manslaughter and child cruelty to Desmond.

The trial continues
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