Coverage will be limited to the judge issuing a sentence and explaining the reasons for it, with a time delay to avoid the transmission of any violent or abusive backlash. The first ever televised sentencing will take place at the Old Bailey on Thursday in the case of 25-year-old Ben Oliver, who admitted manslaughter after stabbing his elderly grandfather to death. Viewers will be able to see inside the courtroom for about 30 minutes, but the cameras will be fixed on the judge with no view of the defendant, victims, jurors, lawyers or witnesses. The time delay is to avoid backlash like gangster Kenny Noye, who was convicted of handling some of the stolen £26m Brinks Mat bullion and told his jury: “I hope you all die of cancer”. Or football hooligan Matthew Simmons, jailed after an on-field clash with Manchester United star Eric Cantona, who was charged in court and lashed out at the prosecutor who had called for a rooftop ban on top of the jail term of. Only Crown Court proceedings will be televised under the new law change, which was passed in 2020. Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said: “Open justice is important and the conviction of serious criminal cases is something in which there is a legitimate public interest. “It has always seemed to me that this is a part of the criminal process that can be recorded and broadcast in many cases, but not all, without compromising the administration of justice or the interests of justice.” The Old Bailey in central London, where tomorrow’s case will be filmed, is the setting for many true dramas. The serial killer, the Yorkshire Ripper, the Kray twin gangsters, Ruth Ellis, the last woman in Britain to be hanged, have all been tried – or ‘caught the rail’ in criminal parlance – in the docks of the infamous number one court. Image: Gangster Kenny Noye told jurors: ‘I hope you all die of cancer’ Former cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken was jailed there in 1999 for lying during an earlier libel case and after his disgrace became a priest and prison chaplain. He said: “I certainly felt very bad when I was sentenced and I suppose I would have felt even worse if I had known it was being televised. But on the other hand, why wouldn’t it make me feel worse? “The crime is done, the guilt is proved, the punishment is coming, that is, justice is served as openly and visibly as possible, which I believe is absolutely right.” Image: Ruth Ellis, the last woman in Britain to be hanged Photography was banned in all UK criminal courts after a photo was published of notorious wife-murderer Dr Crippen standing in the dock of the Old Bailey in 1910. The introduction of the cameras follows a long campaign by major TV news outlets, including Sky News. Courts have always been open to the public, but most have only a few seats available, meaning people have to rely heavily on eyewitness accounts from court reporters. Cameras were first allowed in the Supreme Court in 2009 and then in the Court of Appeal four years later. Head of Sky News John Ryley said: “This is a very important moment for the openness of our courts. It is a further step towards the transparency of a really serious institution, the justice system.” For years the judiciary opposed courtroom cameras, fearing the distress of victims and witnesses, the temptation for lawyers to show off, the risk of disclosure of confidential documents and concern that courtrooms could turn into entertainment theaters. Cameras were allowed in Scottish courts in 1992 and are allowed in courts around the world to varying degrees, notably in Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands and Ukraine. In the United States some trials are broadcast in full and often in painful detail. On whether that could happen here, the Lord Chief Justice said: “Your question is really asking me whether I think we’re going to broadcast criminal trials in the same way that it happens in one or two jurisdictions around the world. “My own but quite strong view is that what we see happening around the world shows why this can be quite damaging.”
