Sufiah Yusof was just thirteen years old when she gained entry into St. Hilda's College at Oxford to read mathematics in 1997. A decade later, the News of the World has revealed that she is now working as a £130-a-night escort girl.

The newspaper claimed it sent an undercover reporter to the 23-year-old's home, where Miss Yusof allegedly works under the name Shilpa Lee. The former child prodigy had also advertised her personal services on a website that has subsequently been shut down.

Cursed by genius

Sufiah’s life has spiraled out of control since her admission to Oxford. In 2001, she sparked a massive police hunt after running away from the university upon the completion of her final exams. She sent an email to her family accusing her father Farooq of making her life a “living hell” by making her adhere to his Accelerated Learning Techniques.

Sufiah was missing for two weeks but police eventually found her working as a waitress in an internet café in Bournemouth. She had been posing as a student among the 30,000 foreigners who go to the seaside resort each year to study English. She refused to go back to her parents and instead was taken into the care of social services.