THREE people have pleaded guilty in the York brothels case, bringing a dramatic end to the trial.

Defendants changed their pleas as undercover police officers waited to give evidence of how they had masqueraded as brothel clients.

Defence barristers asked for the indictment to be put again to Khemthong Reynolds, 39, her husband Brian, 53, and her sister Nichanana Parton, 37.

Khemthong Reynolds then pleaded guilty to running brothels in Kyme Street, Bishophill, and Emperor's Wharf, Skeldergate. Brian Reynolds admitted a charge relating to brothel profits and Parton admitted collecting money at times from women providing sex at the Kyme Street brothel.

Parton had previously admitted perverting the course of justice. She had given Khemthong Reynold's name when arrested by police who had found evidence she had been practising forging her sister's signature.

Prosecution barrister Peter Hampton told the jury at the start of the trial at York Crown Court: "Maybe on occasion the female defendants serviced clients themselves, though there is plenty of evidence that other girls were brought in to do that as well."

Sentencing for all three was adjourned while probation officers prepare reports on them and they were released on bail until January 23.

The fourth defendant Sarinya Bunsanong, 42, of Welland Road, Hilton Road, Derby, maintained her not guilty plea on the single charge she faced on the Kyme Street brothel and was formally acquitted.

Mr Hampton said: "The prosecution say they are offences which are, if you will, driven by greed."

He described how Khemthong Reynolds arranged a six-month tenancy of the Emperor Wharf flat under the pretext that the couple needed a base while looking for a house in York. In reality it was used as a brothel between January 26 and March 15 last year

When the owner ended the contract after six weeks on discovering the real reason for the rental, the wife used pictures she had taken of the flat's interior to illustrate an internet advert to attract men to the second flat, which she rented in Kyme Street on the pretext it was for a "friend who was moving back to York".

There she operated a brothel between April 24 and July 31 with the help of her sister Parton until police closed it down. Some of the defendants were arrested on July 23, but by then Khemthong Reynolds had already left for a pre-arranged trip to Thailand, She was arrested on her return to the UK on October 29 last year.

Defence barristers for Parton and Bunsanong told Recorder Simon Phillips QC they had problems talking to their Thai speaking clients because of a lack of interpreters.