A woman who helped run a secret brothel was caught after a customer keeled over and died on the premises, a court heard.

Christy Norman, 70, was forced to call the emergency services to the sex den after finding the male client collapsed on the premises.

Several escort girls and another manager fled the suburban property in Bournemouth, Dorset, before the police arrived, leaving Norman to take the rap.

Norman carried out CPR on the unnamed man before ambulance paramedics took over, but he could not be saved.

When police turned up they quickly established the terraced house was being used as a brothel after finding skimpy underwear, sex toys and an S and M harness bolted to the ceiling to one of the bedrooms.

Norman claimed she was merely the cleaner and had nothing to do with the running of the illicit enterprise, called Bunnie's Ranch, which charged punters £130 an hour.

She later said her role was a 'Girl Friday' type who sorted out problems the escort girls had with clients.

But police established her involvement was a lot more than that after they discovered she had kept financial records.

She kept records of what the girls offered, the dates they saw clients, how much money was earnt and the nationality of the customers.

Norman, from Poole, denied a charge of assisting in the management of a brothel but was found guilty following a trial at Poole Magistrates' Court.

Lee Turner, prosecuting, said: "A woman named Pat was the manageress and a man called Bobby was the owner. She (Norman) admitted she posted adverts on sex sites.

"She had in depth knowledge of how the brothel worked, if a girl saw a client for 15 minutes its £40. She kept a chit of what girl does what."

Norman, who is single, told the court she was a trained teacher and VAT officer but that in recent years she worked as a cleaner at a yacht club.

She then got the job as a cleaner at a 'house' in Charminster, Bournemouth, in October 2015.

Norman said she was 'dropped in it' on the day the male visitor collapsed and died.

She said: "He came in when the business wasn't open. I asked him to go away until the manager came and went back to the kitchen. Then I heard a thump, ran in and he was there flat out, fully dressed with a purple face.

"I was the cleaner standing there trying to save a man's life and I was left there because the manageress had ran away."

Norman explained she decided to keep chit after some money had gone missing on the premises and the owner accused her of taking it.

She was sentenced to a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £400 to prosecution costs.

District Judge Stephen Nicholls said: "There is clear evidence of her being involved in helping to assist and manage the establishment."