A MAN has appeared in court in connection with an alleged double stabbing in Colchester.

No charges were put to Roy Hensley when he made a brief appearance at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday and his case was adjourned.

The 46-year-old, of no fixed address, has been charged with stabbing his ex-partner Marie Charles and neighbour Adele De Souza, following an incident at an address in Kerry Court, Greenstead Road.

Miss Charles, who is aged in her fifties, received a knife wound to her chest during the incident. Her neighbour Miss De Souza, aged in her twenties, received treatment for a stab wound to her neck.

Hensley, wearing a red prisonstyle sweatshirt and dark trousers, only spoke once to confirm his name during the fiveminute hearing.

A provisional trial date has been set for mid-June with a five-day estimate, the court heard.

Hensley will return to court for a plea and case management hearing on March 30.

He was remanded in custody until then.

There was no application for bail.