THREE men have admitted assaults stemming from a confrontation with a former colleague of one of the men.

As a parting shot, brothers Steven and John Burney also took the male victim's mobile phone.

Durham Crown Court heard that during the incident, on August 14 last year, the man's teenage girlfriend was also caught up in the violence.

Steven, 22, and John Burney, 23, and 32-year-old Robert Brown were all initially facing two counts of robbery.

They denied the charges at a hearing in November and the case was adjourned for trial.

But, on their appearance at the court for the start of the scheduled hearing yesterday, prosecuting barrister Mark Giuliani asked for new charges to be put to the trio.

Steven Burney and Brown admitted assault by beating, and John Burney pleaded guilty to a the same charge, relating to the man's 16-year-old girlfriend.

Both Burneys also admitted theft of the man's mobile phone.

Defence barristers asked for probation reports to be drawn up on the trio, prior to sentence.

The three were released on bail until sentencing, on a date to be fixed