It was, ruled West Sussex Coroner Michael Hugh Blakeney at the time, a ‘tragic accident’.
On Tuesday June 6, 1978, five-year-old Andrea Bernard took herself upstairs at their family home in Thornton Heath, South London, ran herself a hot bath, and got in.
Later, she dried herself, got dressed, and joined her 19-year-old step-mother, Janice Thomas in the garden.
But something did not feel right. She told Janice: ‘Mummy, my legs are itching’. Then she fainted.
Janice removed the little girl’s dress and noticed her legs were bright pink, and the skin was peeling.
They rushed Andrea to the hospital where she was treated for
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