New inquest ordered into Andrea Bernard’s 1978 scalding death

A fresh inquest will examine the death of five-year-old Andrea Bernard, who was fatally scalded in a bath at her South London home in 1978. The High Court ordered a new inquiry after her stepmother, Janice Nix, was convicted of manslaughter this year, saying it was in the interests of justice to investigate and record what happened.

The original inquest recorded accidental death. Andrea’s brother Desmond later told police that Nix had forced her into a scalding bath and that he had kept quiet after she threatened him. At Nix’s trial, a pathologist said the burns’ pattern was inconsistent with an accident and the water could have caused burns within seconds; Nix was jailed for 12 years.