Four men have admitted plotting an audacious heist in London's jewellery quarter that saw £10 million of jewels and valuables disappear.
John Collins, 74, Daniel Jones, 58, Terry Perkins, 67, and Brian Reader, 76, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle at Woolwich Crown Court in connection with the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit raid over Easter.
The men, all from London and Kent, were supported by their friends and family in the court and will be sentenced at a later date.
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of (front row left to right) Paul Reeder, William Lincoln, John Collins, Brian Reeder and Hugh Doyle, (back row left to right) Daniel Jones, Terry Perkins (obscured) and Carl Wood at a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court
They were also charged with conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property, namely a quantity of jewellery and other items taken from the vault, but in light of their guilty pleas prosecutors dropped the charge.
Three other defendants - Hugh Doyle, 48, of Enfield, William Lincoln, 60, of Bethnal Green and taxi driver John Harbinson, 42, of Benfleet - denied conspiracy charges.
Read more: Raided company goes into liquidation
Images show aftermath of Hatton Garden heist
What we know about the jewellery heist
They also pleaded not guilty to a laundering offence and are due to stand trial later this year.
Paul Reader, 50, of Dartford, and Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, are yet to enter pleas to charges of conspiring to burgle and money laundering.
All nine men appeared in court and were accompanied in the dock by 13 security guards. Hatton Garden jewellery heist
Police believe several thieves broke into the building housing Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd through a communal entrance, before disabling the lift so they could climb down the shaft to the basement.
They then used a heavy duty drill to bore huge holes through a vault's concrete wall to ransack more than 70 safety deposit boxes inside.
The Metropolitan Police was heavily criticised for its handling of the case after it emerged that an alert sent to Scotland Yard after an intruder alarm sounded was ignored.
An internal review continues.
Additional reporting by PA
