Amanda Wixon, 56, forced the woman - now in her 40s - to shave her hair, regularly beat her if she didn't complete jobs around the home, and made her live off "scraps" of food.

It's also understood that while being held, Wixon, a mother of 10, stole more than £100,000 in benefits from the victim.

Wixon will serve two-thirds of her sentence.

Police officers who arrived at the house in Tewskesbury, Gloucestershire, following a tip-off from one of Wixon's sons in March 2021, described the victim's bedroom as looking like a "prison cell".

They found a basic bed with filthy sheets, bare plaster walls with mould growing on them and no light bulb.

The woman, who we can only identify as "K", has learning difficulties and knew Wixon when she was a child, through family connections.

In 1996, she was taken into Wixon's home at the age of 16.

Police say that Wixon kept her in squalid conditions for more than two decades, forced her to look after her children, locking her in the house and depriving her of food, health and dental care.

The jury heard she was beaten with a broom handle, knocking out her teeth, had washing-up liquid squirted down her throat and bleach splashed on her face.

Wixon did not allow "K" to wash herself, something she did in secret at night.

The court heard how Wixon had strangled the victim and pushed her head down the toilet.

Wixon had benefits for the victim paid into her bank account from the late 1990s, receiving more than £100,000 over the years.

After being removed from the address, doctors described "K" as "malnourished" - noting scarring around her mouth, thought to be due to contact with cleaning fluids.

Calluses were found on her ankles, consistent with the victim's account of spending hours on her knees sweeping the floor.

During sentencing, Judge Ian Lawrie KC said Wixon was in "permanent denial" about her offending.

"The gravity of your offending is so serious that I am imposing a significant period of custody," he said.

He added: "This offending was not isolated and was persistent over many years."

'Nothing can give back the years lost'

The victim now lives with a foster family, attends college and has been on holidays abroad.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said: "For 25 years, I lived in fear, control and abuse. I was treated as though my life, my freedom and my voice did not matter.

"Although my abuser has now been found guilty, the trauma and the nightmares are something I still carry with me every day."

She added: "Nothing can give me back the 25 years I lost."

K's new foster mother described how she "had to take her to the doctors and get lots of appointments and try and feed her and show her love... She wasn't used to things like that".

She described how when K first arrived to live with her, "she didn't want me to hug her", but that after weeks of support and hard work, she "turned around and started being loving".

Wixon was convicted in January at Gloucester Crown Court of modern-day slavery offences, including two counts of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

She was found not guilty of a further count of assault.

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Outside court, Gloucestershire Police detective chief inspector Dave Shore-Nye said: "There is no prison sentence that could reflect the pain and suffering (Wixon) has inflicted on the victim, or bring back the decades she stole from her."

Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher, from Gloucestershire Constabulary, said this was one of the "worst cases" he had ever seen.

"The pure longevity of the harm that's been caused, nearly 25 years of suffering and pain. This is one of the most horrific crimes I've seen investigated by Gloucestershire."

Huge crowds formed on Thursday to catch a glimpse of the pair - who even pitched in by serving customers.

Kate made husband William a coffee - only for him to turn it away when he realised it wasn't decaf.

The Princess of Wales showed off her barista skills during a stop at Change Please, a social enterprise training homeless people in coffee retail.

She handed the finished drink to her husband, saying "I've made a coffee for you, William", but when he asked "is it decaf?" and she replied "no", he suggested it should be sold.

Kate carried the coffee with her when they carried on with their tour of the popular attraction that has been a focus for food lovers for decades.

Staff member Lorent Maliqi said afterwards: "She did really well.

"I was surprised, she got the texture of the milk right on point - it was a great effort."

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William and Kate were hands-on throughout their visit, which began at the Trethowan Brothers stall where award-winning cheese made from their farm in north Somerset has been sold since the early days of Borough Market almost 30 years ago.

They went on to sample some handmade Pitchfork Cheddar, made with unpasteurised milk, and the Gorwydd Caerphilly cheese, and told Todd Trethowan: "That's lunch taken care of."

They then moved behind the counter, cutting a wedge of Caerphilly cheese under Mr Trethowan's guidance, before Kate used the wire to slice some of the cheddar, which was bagged and handed to the couple's aide for later.

Dozens of onlookers packed out the busy central London market to get pictures of the pair.

The pair then spoke to Kim Innes, who runs Humble Crumble, as she dished out servings of crumble to customers.

"They were really keen to do it and really good at it, and they put on aprons and everything," Ms Innes said.

"They were both encouraging each other and were complimentary about each other's work."

Earlier in the day, the pair were declared winners in a pint pulling contest against the founder of a brewery, as they visited London's Bermondsey Beer Mile.

They were not hurt.

John Healey said attacks by Iranian forces against targets across the Middle East "have the hallmarks" of how Russian troops operate in their war against Ukraine.

This included a change in how Iran uses its drones.

Tehran sold thousands of "Shahed" one-way attack drones to Russia in the early months of President Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Russians, with Iranian help, then developed their own version of the unmanned aerial vehicle and now the lessons they have learnt from fighting in Ukraine appear to be helping the Iranians in their response to waves of US and Israeli strikes against Iran.

"No one will be surprised to believe that Putin's hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics, potentially some of their capabilities as well," Mr Healey said, speaking to reporters during a trip to the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood, the main base overseeing military operations overseas.

The defence secretary said this likely Russia link was "not least because the one world leader benefitting from the sky high oil prices at the moment is Putin".

He was referring to a spike in the price of oil after Iran used its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz off its coastline to block one of the world's most vital shipping lanes.

The defence secretary said the Russian president "is clearly likely to welcome this war more than anyone else."

Lieutenant General Nick Perry, the chief of joint operations who oversees all UK military operations around the world, said there was "definitively" a link between Russia and Iran, which have a long-standing military relationship.

"We have definitely seen the Iranian tactics of the use of their drones learnt from Russians - flying them much lower so they are more effective," Lieutenant General Perry said, speaking to Mr Healey as they looked at a map of the Gulf in a room at the military headquarters.

"There is no doubt [the Iranian] tactics have changed," Lieutenant General Perry said.

He said drones were causing the most damage by the Iranian side across the region.

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This included an Iranian-linked drone - potentially fired from Lebanon or Iraq - that struck a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus on the second day of the war, landing near a hanger.

Mr Healey said the components of that device are being investigated to find out if they included Russian parts.

"We will update you on the findings from that," he said.

A second military commander said that British forces had shot down two drones fired towards a military base in Erbil, northern Iraq, overnight.

"A number did impact the camp," the officer told Mr Healey.

He said there had not been any British casualties.

However, the defence secretary said there had been reports of a number of US casualties, though none had been seriously injured.

The teenager was injured in the shooting in Toxteth at an address at Lime Grove, off Lodge Lane, at 12.55am on Thursday.

Investigators believe it was a "targeted attack by someone known to the victim", Merseyside Police said.

The young victim has been taken to hospital for assessment, police said.

Detective Inspector Ainsley McAlice said: "These are the critical early stages of our investigation, and we are looking to establish exactly what happened, where it happened, and to find the person responsible.

"We understand the concern that… any such incident will have in our communities, and initially believe that this was a targeted attack by someone known to the victim."

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DI McAlice urged anyone with information or footage of the shooting to come forward, adding there would be a visible police presence in the inner-city area of Liverpool on Thursday.

"If you know anything or live locally and saw the incident or anyone making off around Lodge Lane or towards Sefton Park, please come forward as a matter of urgency," DI McAlice said.

"Your CCTV, doorbell footage or other information could be vital evidence.

"Officers will remain in the area today, gathering evidence and speaking to people locally to provide reassurance, so contact us directly or anonymously via Crimestoppers."

Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 38, was jailed for six years and Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, for five having previously pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court to three charges of assisting unlawful immigration.

The pair were arrested after the yacht, Uforia, was intercepted four-and-a-half miles off the coast of Chichester, West Sussex, on 20 July last year, with five migrants onboard.

The migrants, four Albanian males and a "very young" Vietnamese female, were handed over to the immigration authorities, according to the National Crime Agency.

Robin Leach, prosecuting, said that the pair had carried out at least eight crossings and added: "Both defendants ferried migrants across the English Channel from northern France to the English coast, in particular to Itchenor in Chichester Harbour and they ferried the migrants across the Channel in a yacht called Uforia.

"It was established some of the migrants paid up to 15,000 euros - this was a premium bespoke service and any one trip would involve three to six migrants being taken across the Channel."

Cherniavskyi, had paid just £15,000 for the yacht, the court heard.

Sentencing the pair, Judge William Ashworth said: "You were both part of an insidious black market draining families of money and perpetuating the misery of illegal immigration.

"Of particular concern in this case is that on one occasion you willingly transported a young Vietnamese female travelling alone who upon arrival into the UK was taken in to foster care meaning that she was a particularly vulnerable person and transporting her into the UK is a callous act."

He added: "It was a premium service and you both accept you received significant amounts of money albeit you were not the organisers who, one would conclude, would take the lion's share of the money."

The pair are likely be deported at the end of their sentence, he added.

Daniel Reilly, defending Cherniavskyi, said he was trying to earn money for a bone marrow transplant, treatment for his mother's leukaemia and medication for his father's heart condition.

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William Saunders, defending Yavtushenko, said the qualified sailor had left Ukraine in 2015 and had worked as a builder and taxi driver in Poland before returning to sailing when he moved to Spain and Portugal.

He said: "He deeply regrets and apologises for getting involved."