TV cameras in the Old Bailey for first time

TELEVISION cameras will enter a crown court room in England for the first time today. Judge Sarah Munro QC will be filmed at the Old Bailey as she passes sentence on a 25-year- old who has admitted killing his grandfather.

It will be the first televised sentencing in England and Wales, and will be broadcast on news channels and online, including Sky News, the BBC and ITN. The move to allow cameras in court follows a change in the law in 2020, but its implementation was delayed by the pandemic. It follows a similar relaxation of rules in Scotland in 2015. Only the judge will be filmed during sentencing to protect the privacy of victims, witnesses and jurors.

Judge Munro will sentence Ben Oliver, from Bexleyheath, south London, who admitted the manslaughter of 74-yearold David Oliver on January 19 last year. His sentencing will take place in Court 2 at 10am.

Lord Burnett of Maldon, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, hailed the move as a ‘very positive’ step in promoting open justice, adding: ‘I think it’s an exciting development, because it will help the public to understand how and why criminals get the sentences that they do in these very high-profile cases.’

But he stopped short of advocating televising trials, saying: ‘My own but fairly strong view is that what we see happening around the world illustrates why that can be quite damaging.’