A WOMAN has appeared in court charged with killing a five-year-old girl after she was allegedly forced into a hot bath almost 50 years ago.
Andrea Bernard is understood to have been assaulted a home in Thornton Heath, South London, on June 6, 1978.
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The youngster was transferred to a specialist burns unit following the horror and died five weeks later.
Janice Nix, who was known to Andrea, appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court today charged with manslaughter.
The 66-year-old is also accused of child cruelty between October 1, 1975, and June 6, 1978, in relation to another child who was aged eight at the time.
The court heard that Andrea suffered 50 per cent burns to her body after she was “forced into a very hot bath”.
Nix, who would have been aged between 16 and 19 at the time, spoke only to confirm her identity during a brief hearing.
She was bailed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on March 19.
The Met confirmed the horror was reported in September 2022 and an investigation was launched.
Nix is an author and works in the probation sector in London.
In 2015, she won the Probation Service’s Diversity and Engagement Award.
A Met spokesperson said: “Detectives from the Met’s Cold Case Homicide Team have charged a woman following the death of a five-year-old girl in 1978.
It is reported Andrea was assaulted at an address in Ashley Road, Thornton Heath on 6 June 1978 and was hospitalised.
“She was initially treated at hospital in Croydon before being transferred to a specialist burns unit in East Grinstead.
“Tragically, as a result of the injuries Andrea sustained, she died on 13 July 1978.”
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