TWO men have pleaded guilty to the attempted daylight robbery of one of Taunton’s longstanding jewellers.

Gary Kamara, 52, from Witney and Oxfordshire, and 49 year-old Darcy Whiting from Rockley Road in Luton, Bedfordshire, have admitted their failed raid on Showerings jewellery shop in St James St, Taunton, which took place in the early afternoon on Saturday March 1 2014.

The men appeared together by video link from Exeter prison this morning (Monday March 24) to enter their pleas in a Taunton Crown Court hearing.

Police had arrested the duo late on the same day of the incident on the M4 near Swindon, Wiltshire.

Judge David Ticehurst refused defence solicitors’ requests for both men to be sentenced immediately.

Instead he instructed for sentencing to take place next month in order for a pre-sentence report to be compiled by the Probation Service, detailing the men’s backgrounds, and for appropriate punishment to be given.

Addressing Kamara and Whiting directly, Judge Ticehurst said: “I’m not going to deal with you today… and I am going to direct the Probation Service to consider the question of your dangerousness in regard to your previous convictions.”

Kamara and Whiting appeared in casual dress – Kamara in a dark fleece, and Whiting in a striped rugby shirt.

The pair have been remanded in custody until noon on Friday April 25, when they will be sentenced, either in person in Taunton Crown Court, or by video link.