A woman has been charged with manslaughter 47 years after a five-year-old girl died of serious burn injuries.
The Metropolitan Police charged Janice Nix, a 66-year-old woman from Rodenhurst Road in south-west London, with manslaughter on Tuesday, 47 years on from the death of Andrea Bernard, five, in 1978.
Andrea was allegedly assaulted on Ashley Road, Thornton Heath, on 6 June 1978 before being taken to a Croydon hospital for treatment.
The five-year-old was later moved to a specialist burns unit in East Grinstead to receive further treatment.
But around a month later, on 13 July 1978, Andrea died as a result of the injuries.
An investigation into the young girl’s death was launched in 2022 after the offences were finally reported.
Janice Nix has also been charged with child cruelty following alleged offences against another child, who was aged eight at the time.
Andrea and Nix were reportedly ‘known to each other’ at the time of the young girl’s death.
Nix is due to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, February 19.