A BRADFORD woman used her sister's bank account to deposit more than £64,000 earned from her involvement in a prostitution racket, a court heard.

Bradford Crown Court was told that Cathryn Byrom used her sister's account for money from managing and running diaries for women working as escorts.

Blonde-haired Byrom, 44, admitted five charges of controlling prostitution for gain and five of transferring criminal property, the proceeds of prostitution. The offences occurred over a four-year period between July 2011 and August 2015.

Byrom, of Storr Hill, Wyke, was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work by Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC.

Judge Durham Hall told her she had been on the cusp of going to prison but guidelines permitted him to suspend the sentence, as there was no element of coercion or trafficking involved. He said had that been the case she would have gone to prison for a long time.

Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told the court that downloads from a seized phone connected to the defendant's phone. There was a contact list for 90 females, covering areas including Chester, Leeds, Manchester, Bury and Blackburn.

Mr Ahmed said there were text messages in relation to organising prostitution appointments, with times and addresses.

He said the defendant had no declared income in the last six years and had been in receipt of benefits for most of that period.

He said provisional calculations by Revenue and Customs suggested tax evasion of £19,746.

Mr Ahmed said the offences came to light in August last year when Proceeds of Crime investigators were asked to look into Byrom's sister's bank account. They found that £64,250 had been deposited in cash over a period of time and subsequently transferred to the defendant's bank account. He said £15,000 remained in Byrom's account, which had been seized.

When investigators confronted the defendant's sister she repeatedly told them Byrom had been using her account. She was unaware of how the money deposited by Byrom had been earned.

Byrom's barrister, Mark Watterson, said the money earned by his client were "wages for acting as a receptionist," which was different to someone who owned an escort agency, or worked as a "madam."

Mr Ahmed confirmed the criminality was linked to an organisation which was established before the defendant became involved.

Judge Durham Hall said the defendant was wrong when she said it was a "recognised trade doing no harm."

But he said she was of good character.

The judge added: "I hope the message goes out, that it isn't just a job, it is running prostitution. The police are very anxious to crack down and stop it."