A female serial killer has admitted killing three men and dumping their bodies in ditches in Cambridgeshire.

Joanna Dennehy shocked the Old Bailey by pleading guilty to the murders of Kevin Lee, 48, Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, and John Chapman, 56, who were found with multiple stab wounds between March and April this year.

Dennehy, 30, also pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of another two men, Robin Bereza and John Rogers.

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Dennehy, who appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey with a star tattooed under her right eye, told the judge: "I've pleaded guilty and that's that."

The court was left stunned by her dramatic plea. Her barrister, Nigel Lickley QC, said: "The course of the arraignment is not one we had anticipated."

Dennehy also admitted "preventing the lawful and decent burial" of all three murder victims.

The killer, who was flanked in the dock by security guards, appeared alongside another defendant, Gary Richards, who denied three charges of preventing burial and the two attempted murders.