A businesswoman who bakes spectacular birthday cakes for the children of Premier League footballers was jailed for keeping a deaf and mute girl in a cellar as a slave, MailOnline can reveal.
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Tallat Ashar's stunning creations - including towering superhero-themed cakes - have attracted thousands of 'likes' on TikTok and Instagram, with the firm catering for parties for the sons of Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, defender Raphaël Varane and former team-mate Paul Pogba .
But unknown to its celebrity clients, behind the glossy social media sheen lies a dark link to one of the most shocking criminal trials in recent years.
In 2014, Ashar, the sole director of her firm Sugared Luxe Ltd – based in Eccles, Greater Manchester – was jailed for six years after she and her husband Ilyas were revealed to have smuggled a ten-year-old girl from Pakistan to the UK where she was subjected to appalling abuse.
Kept secretly in the 'sparse, cold, damp' cellar of the five-bed family home, the girl was repeatedly raped by Mr Ashar as well as being ordered to cook and clean for her captors.