TWO men have appeared in court after a £10,000 diamond heist at a town centre jewellers.

Carlton Ho-Ten-Pow, of Mario Way, Colchester, admitted burgling Ernest Jones in Shewall Walk, Culver Square, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Co-defendant Raymond Tauchert of Dedham Road, Boxted, did not indicate a plea when the pair appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court.

Both appeared wearing prison-issue red jumpers in two short, separate hearings on Friday.

Approximately £10,000 worth of gold and diamond rings were taken from a window display in the shop.

Police were called to the scene of the burglary after a witness spotted two men smashing the reinforced glass at the window at the jewellers.

Officers matched the description they were given to two people who were spotted at the scene and followed them as they drove along Crouch Street, Balkerne Hill and Southway.

Once they pulled the car over, jewellery was found inside the vehicle, along with the head of a hammer.

A hammer handle was found outside Ernest Jones.

Neither man made an application for bail and both have been remanded in custody until their next hearings.

Construction worker Ho-Ten-Pow, 36, will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on November 18.

Unemployed Tauchert, 55, will appear at Ipswich Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on the same date.