Woman, 66, charged over 1978 death of five-year-old girl in south London

A 66-year-old woman has been charged with manslaughter over the death of a five-year-old girl in 1978.

Metropolitan Police said Janice Nix was charged after Andrea Bernard died following an assault in south London.

Nix, from Clapham, southwest London, was also charged with child cruelty in relation to offences towards another child, who was aged eight at the time.

Andrea and Nix were known to each other, the Met Police has said.

Nix is due to appear before Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

It is reported Andrea was assaulted at an address in Thornton Heath, south London, on 6 June 1978.

She was hospitalised and initially treated in Croydon, before being transferred to a specialist burns unit in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

She died as a result of her injuries on 13 July 1978.

An investigation was launched after the offences were reported in September 2022.

(c) Sky News 2025: Woman, 66, charged over 1978 death of five-year-old girl in south London