Experts have warned that slavery is more profitable than ever with traders making 30 times more than in the 18th and 19th century.

Human rights researcher Siddharth Kara calculated that nowadays each victim makes an average of £3,030 a year for those who exploit them - with some making more than 10 times that figure.

Meanwhile sex trafficking makes up half of the profits of the illegal industry despite those victims only accounting for 5% of modern slaves. It can bring in profits of more than £27,000 per person.

Mr Kara told The guardian human life has become more expendable than ever.

'Slaves can be acquired, exploited and discarded in relatively short periods and still provide immense profits for their exploiters.

He added: 'Unless slavery is perceived as a high-cost and high-risk form of labour exploitation, this reality will not change.'

Kara's calculations were based on data from 51 countries recorded over a 15-year period as well as thousands of victims of slavery.

According to experts the scale of slavery has dramatically increased - with approximately 21 million people being exploited worldwide compared to the 13 million people who were sold as slaves between the 15th and 19th century. They were identified by police, charities and welfare experts as potential victims of so-called modern slavery, which includes human trafficking and forced labour.

But the figure could merely be the 'tip of the iceberg', with many more unreported cases, the study by the Children's Commissioner for England warns.

Anne Longfield has urged politicians to stamp out the 'horrendous exploitation' of youngsters by adults.

She said slavery was just one of several serious issues that forced millions of children across the country to live 'vulnerable or high-risk lives'.

Her report cites the latest figures from the Government's national referral mechanism (NRM), the official framework for identifying and helping victims of slavery and trafficking. Some 1,204 children aged up to 17 were referred to the NRM last year for suspected domestic servitude, labour or sexual exploitation in England – an increase of a third, from 901 in 2015.

British nationals were the biggest group at 247, with 209 of them feared to have been caught up in sexual exploitation.

They were followed by 223 Albanian youngsters, of whom 150 were referred for potential labour exploitation. The third highest source of referrals were 200 Vietnamese children, with 101 of them feared trapped in forced labour.

Nigerian children also made up 40 of the NRM referrals in 2016, with 18 of these for suspected domestic servitude.

However, the report says there are many 'invisible children' who may be 'particularly vulnerable' due to gaps in identification.

These youngsters may 'have been victims of modern slavery but not reported to the national referral mechanism'.

A 16-year-old boy was today found guilty of killing a Polish man with a single 'Superman punch' after mocking his English in an attack outside a takeaway. 

The defendant, who was 15 at the time of the attack, had denied the manslaughter of Arkadiusz Jozwik, but was found guilty by a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Mr Jozwik, 40, had been drinking vodka with two friends and had just bought a pizza when he was set upon outside a row of takeaway shops in Harlow, Essex, shortly after 11.30pm on August 27, 2016.

He died two days later in hospital from head injuries.

Rosina Cottage QC, prosecuting, earlier told the week-long trial that the defendant moved behind Mr Jozwik, jumped up from the ground and used the 'whole force of his body' to hit Mr Jozwik with a 'Superman punch'.

The defendant, who was in The Stow shopping precinct after going to a kebab shop, said he hit Mr Jozwik, who was known to his friends as Arek, 'to defend my friend. Ms Cottage said laughter could be heard during the incident, and the defendant agreed with her description that this was 'around the time he (Mr Jozwik) was saying 'fight me' and weaving around'. 

He also agreed with Ms Cottage's description that this was because Mr Jozwik 'looked such an idiot'.

Ms Cottage said: 'If you didn't like it, you could have scarpered, couldn't you?'  The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, replied: 'Yeah.'  

The court also heard there was some laughter 'about their English' (of the Polish men) and the defendant moved behind Mr Jozwik before striking him. 

The defendant will be sentenced on September 8 at Chelmsford Crown Court.

A terrorist who infiltrated the British military has been jailed for 18 years for supplying bombs to dissident Irish republicans. 

Former Royal Marine Kiaran Maxwell stashed anti-personnel mines, mortars, ammunition and 14 pipe bombs - four of which were later used - in 43 purpose-built woodland hides at eight locations in Northern Ireland and England.

Bomb-making materials were found in barrels and buckets buried in the ground as well as an adapted Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) pass card, a PSNI uniform and a police stab-proof vest.

Maxwell was driven by 'republican sympathies and a hostility to the UK' and the lasting effects of a sectarian attack that left him with a fractured skull when he was 16, the court heard.

Questions have now been raised as to how someone with a background of Republican sympathies passed vetting for the Marines - as police admit it is likely that more of his bombs remain in the hands of senior Continuity IRA members.   

The 31-year-old, who is originally from Larne in Co Antrim and was with 40 Commando based at Norton Manor Camp in Taunton, Somerset, at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty to preparation of terrorist acts between January 2011 and August last year, possessing images of bank cards for fraud and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney said: 'I'm sure that you were and will remain motivated by dissident republican sympathies and a hostility to the UK. Father-of-one Maxwell had researched 300 potential police, government and military targets before his plot was foiled when members of the public stumbled across his weapons hides by chance, the court heard. His defence barrister had previously told the court Maxwell 'feared violence' on a daily basis as he grew up as a Catholic in his hometown of Larne.

In 2002, he was 'beaten by golf clubs, iron bars and hammers' and 'left for dead in a field' by loyalists.

A doctor's report said Maxwell had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the immediate aftermath, which persisted into his 20s.

However a prosecutor said there was 'no direct evidence' Maxwell's offending was motivated by the beating.

Police still haven't found all the lethal devices constructed by Maxwell during his years of treachery in the ranks of the Royal Marines.

The Republican terrorist spy amassed an astonishing arsenal as he seemingly plundered military stores and ranges at will. 

Only one other person has been arrested over the conspiracy and there are fears those who encouraged the bombmaker may never be brought to justice. 

Senior male doctors get four times as many bonuses as their female counterparts, a report has revealed.

The latest figures show that more than 52 per cent of 43,856 NHS hospital consultants in England received some kind of merit-based award ranging between £17,000 and £77,000.

However, out of those receiving them for the first time in 2015 just 65 were women while 252 were men. Yet the research by the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Award also found that women were at no disadvantage when it came to actually receiving the bonuses they applied for - both male and female consultants had a 26 per cent success rate.

Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, believes the report shows that women are receiving less bonuses because they are less inclined to ask for them.

She told The daily telegraph : 'We find that women are unlikely to put themselves forward unless they feel they can tick all the boxes – whereas by and large men are more likely to just give it a whirl. 

'It's the same for new jobs, it's the same for job promotions. But the other issue that concerns us is that they are less likely to be encouraged. 

'A lot of the conversations about future careers happen in the men's changing rooms, women just aren't there when these chats are going on. Of the 96 staff who were paid more than £150,000 by the organisation last year, just 34 were women.

Sir Philip Hampton, who is currently co-chairing a review aimed at increasing the women in senior roles in finance, blamed the female presenters themselves for the pay gap claiming that they 'let it happen'.

The City grandee also said that in his experience he had 'never, ever had a woman ask for a pay rise'.

He told the London evening standard Thursday: 'How has this situation arisen at the BBC that these intelligent, high-powered, sometimes formidable women have sat in this situation?

'They are all looking at each other now saying: "how did we let this happen?" I suspect they let it happen because they weren't doing much about it.' 

An off-duty police officer and paramedic were sprayed in the face with an unknown corrosive substance after stopping to help at the scene of a major car fire.

The pair joined other 'Good Samaritans' in lending a hand after a stolen car was involved in a serious collision with a lorry at around 7pm on Friday night.

The vehicle crashed into the a metal barrier at the side of the M11 near Chigwell and Loughton in Essex, before bursting into flames.

Just minutes before collision, police had been alerted to the blue VW Golf being stolen from outside a nearby shop.

The victim in the car theft, a man in his 20s, reported that one of the men held a knife in his hand. Less than 10 minutes later, the stolen car collided with the lorry on the M11, southbound, between junctions 5 and 4.

The car caught fire and after seeing the incident, passing drivers stopped to help.

Following the collision, the drivers of the stolen car left the vehicle and sprayed an unknown substance in the faces of two people who were among those who had stopped to assist.

One was an off duty paramedic, the other, an off duty police officer.

The suspects then stole another car - a white Vauxhall Astra - at the scene of the collision to make their getaway.

This car was later recovered in Dagenham, East London.

Police said medical treatment was received by the two people who were sprayed with the unknown substance, and it is not believed they will suffer from any long term effects.

Two ambulance crews, a rapid response vehicle and response car from Essex and Herts Air Ambulance were dispatched to the scene. Both men sprayed with the substance were taken to hospital for further care.

Their conditions are not believed to be serious or life-threatening. The driver of the lorry was uninjured.

Kevin Brown, Director of Service Delivery at The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST), said: 'This unprovoked attack on two Good Samaritans who were trying to help at the scene of a road traffic collision is deplorable.

'Sadly they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and we wish them a speedy recovery.'

The crash caused disruption to drivers, but the lane reopened later that evening following forensic recovery of the vehicles.

One suspect was described as Asian, and between 25 to 30 years old. He had a dark beard, and was wearing a baseball cap, a navy blue buttoned top, and dark coloured bottoms. He also had a small, black leather bag with him.

The other suspect was described as white, with short dark hair.

The Spanish judge probing five Britons over the death of Scottish holidaymaker Kirsty Maxwell may never be charged, internal court documents suggest. 

She was asked to remand four of the men in prison on Wednesday by Kirsty's family lawyer - but rejected the request saying there was 'no new evidence' of the men's participation in the death of the victim.'

Ana Isabel Garcia-Galbis said she was still awaiting another police report but her comments, contained in a two-page internal court document drafted after the Brits' court appearance in Benidorm earlier this week, shows they may never be charged. An initial police report on Kirsty's April 29 fatal fall from their Benidorm holiday apartment, after a hen do, places a fifth man in connection with the death.

The report says Joseph Graham had taken so much cocaine before Kirsty, 27, walked into their tenth-floor apartment by mistake that his nose was bleeding. 

He was quizzed in court after her death at the spot she plunged from because an untouched cigarette like the ones he smoked was found on the floor.

Police conclude in the 39-page report that she panicked after finding herself in the wrong flat and probably tried to jump into the swimming pool ten floors below after an alcohol binge because she thought it was her 'only escape route. The report adds Mr Graham, who has not been charged with any crime but is still under investigation 'in his state of drunkenness and under the effects of cocaine, probably said something obscene to Kirsty and/or approached her in a way which made her feel seriously intimidated.' 

The £49,000-a-year Amazon worker, from Nottingham, has protested his innocence.

The four men questioned in court on Wednesday, all born in Nottingham and named as Ricky Gammon, 31, Anthony Holehouse, 34, Callum Northridge, 27, and Daniel Bailey, 32, have also angrily denied any involvement in Kirsty's death. 

A mother-of-three forced to spend £70,000 every three weeks on cancer treatment in Germeny to stay alive claims she was told she 'doesn't have enough cancer for UK trial treatment.

Louise Gleadell, 38, from Leicester, was first diagnosed with cervical cancer last February.

But the aggressive disease spread and she was told it was incurable in January.

Desperate for other alternatives, Louise attempted to participate in an immunotherapy trial through the NHS

The treatment would increase her life expectancy but Louise claims she was denied access to the because because she didn't have 'enough' cancer.

Despite being ravaged by an aggressive cancer, Louise claims she still wasn't eligible for treatment and says she there was no further options available.

Refusing to die without a fight, Louise took it upon herself to find other alternatives, and has been spending up to £70,000 every three weeks to receive treatment at the Hallwang Clinic in Germany.

After relying on savings and fundraising from her family and friends, Louise is able to enjoy the time she has left thanks to treatment abroad. Louise, a former holiday business owner, said: 'I initially tried to join an immunotherapy trial in the UK, but I was told that I couldn't because I didn't have enough cancer. 'So we've had to use all of our savings so that I can get treatment in Germany.

'The first time that I went to Germany, I had to be there for eight days, and that alone cost £70,000.

'My second time, just three weeks later, cost £66,000 and now every three weeks I have two days' worth and that's £32,000. 'And I have to keep having these treatments every three weeks or my tumours will continue growing and I will die.'

Louise was diagnosed with cervical cancer in February 2016 after doctors mistook the disease for post-natal symptoms.

Due to several rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Louise's cervical tumour shrunk – but it had started to grow in her neck and after and she suffered a haemorrhage, she was told it was now terminal. Louise added: 'I lost all of my hair from the repetitive rounds of chemo, but that was just a small price to pay for my life.