A woman in Britain has admitted murdering three men whose stabbed bodies were found in remote ditches in the English county of Cambridgeshire.

Joanna Dennehy pleaded guilty to killing Kevin Lee, Lukasz Slaboszewski and John Chapman between March and April this year.

The 30-year-old, from Peterborough, also pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of all three victims, as well as the attempted murders of two other men, Robin Bereza and John Rogers.

She was arrested after a police hunt, during which officers distributed her picture and described the distinctive star tattoo she has under her right eye.

Appearing at the Old Bailey, Dennehy told the judge, Mr. Justice Sweeney "I've pleaded guilty and that's that".

Her barrister, Nigel Lickley QC, said "The course of the arraignment is not one we had anticipated."

The bodies of Mr. Slaboszewski, 31, who was stabbed in the heart, and Mr. Chapman, 56, who died from neck and chest wounds, were found at Thorney Dyke, near Peterborough, on April 3rd.

Four days earlier, Mr. Lee, 48, was discovered in a ditch in Newborough, around 10 miles away. He had been stabbed in the chest.

He was last seen on Good Friday and reported missing later that day when his Ford Mondeo was found burned out near a farm in Yaxley.

In a statement released after his death, his family described him as a "wonderful husband, father, loving brother and son".

They said he had a "naturally infectious personality (that) touched everyone who knew him", adding: "He will be hugely missed by all his friends and family".s at all times of the day" he added.