Members of a Chinese crime group have been jailed for running a string of brothels, including one in Tunbridge Wells which netted nearly £550,000.

Dongning Zhang, 35, a former court clerk, was known as ‘Leo’ when he helped set up numerous brothels across southern England.

But it was when police raided flats in Dudley Road and The Depository in Tunbridge Wells they realised it was part of an organised crime gang.

That led officers to a flat in Harrow where Zhang and his lover Shuangyan Hu.

Today, Zhang, of Gloucester Place in Marylebone, south-west London, who had admitted keeping a brothel and laundering the proceeds, was jailed for four years and three months.

Judge Charles Macdonald QC said it had been a “sophisticated crime” and the gang had kept “meticulous records”.

Hu, 37, and of St Kilda's Road in Harrow, London, had denied the charges but was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court – after the judge told her she had told “a pack of miles”.

The mum-of-one sobbed throughout the hearing and was given a jail sentence of three years and six months.

Her barrister Justin McClintock asked the judge for mercy saying she had spent the past year in prison awaiting trial and had been separated from her child.

The lawyer claimed she was drawn into the network after becoming involved with Zhang.

A third person, 62-year old-chef Kai Shao of Lime Hill Road, Tunbridge Wells – who was at the Kent addresses during two raids – admitted similar charges.

He was described as the “babysitter” for the prostitutes and banked the money. He was given a 20 month sentence.

Two others, Yali Geng, 20, and Pikwa Wong , 27, were both acquitted of being part of the sex conspiracy.

Maidstone Crown Court has been told that an organised crime gang of Chinese nationals were behind a network of brothels operating across south east England for three and a half years.

The court heard that financial records revealed that the sex enterprise had brought in £547,000 in a three year period.

Telephone record revealed the network’s tentacle stretched to Sheffield, Romford, Ipswich and Peterborough – with 11 brothels in an area bordered by Tunbridge Wells, Cheltenham, Brentwood and north London.

Properties were rented in London, Essex and Kent using fake identities and by people falsely claiming to be employed by telecommunications company Huawei.

Young women, themselves often Chinese and advertised as "high quality", were then put to work in the brothels, referred to by those involved as "shops".

The organised crime group was said to have "a large number of sex workers" at its disposal and there was a frequent changeover of women.

Brothels were located in Tunbridge Wells, one in nearby Tonbridge, another in Brentwood in Essex and others in Surrey and various parts of London.

Three of the houses were in a flat at The Depository in Rock Villa Road, Tunbridge Wells, and nearby properties in Lime Hill Road and Dudley Road.

Prosecutor Alan Gardner had told how police found "a wealth of documentation" at the property in St Kilda's Road, including records of girls' names, customers, and rates charged of £60 to £70 for a half-hour sex session, or £100 to £120 for a full hour.

Also at the property were 17 mobile phones and £8,000 cash, also said to be linked to the operation.

The court heard much of their phone communication was via an app similar to WhatsApp called WeChat.

Read more: All the latest news from Tunbridge Wells

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