The stepmum exposed as a young girl's killer almost 50 years on

The stepmum exposed as a young girl's killer almost 50 years on54 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSonja JessupBBC London home affairs correspondent BBCJanice Nix led a life of crime in the 1970s and '80s and spent more than 17 years in prison - this image is from an earlier BBC article about her memoirOne Sunday in September 2022, a man walked into Croydon police station and told officers he needed to reveal a terrible secret he'd carried for almost half a century.Desmond Bernard described how, in 1978, his stepmother had killed his five-year-old sister Andrea by scalding her in a hot bath at their home in Thornton Heath, south London.Her death had always been treated as an accident, but Bernard, who had been just eight at the time, told officers that Janice Nix had ordered him to lie about what really happened.He said the siblings had lived in terror of punishments doled out by Nix, including being beaten and forced to eat cat food. Earlier, a jury at Isleworth Crown Court found Nix, 67, guilty of Andrea's manslaughter and of child cruelty towards Bernard.Desmond BernardFive year old Andrea Bernard's death in 1978 was recorded as an accident until her brother came forward to police Warning: distressing details are included in this articlePolice who investigated the case are clear Nix would never have been brought to justice had it not been for Bernard's courage in coming forward decades later. Det Con Fran Homer, from the Metropolitan Police's cold case team, said it had been "heartbreaking" to hear how he had felt guilt over what happened, despite not being in any way to blame.She believes his decision to walk into the police station came from a place of wanting to be "the voice of Andrea she didn't have" and feeling he was unable to carry the burden of such a secret any longer.But proving Nix's guilt would be challenging in a case where very few records survived.PA MediaNix was brought...