Crown court sentencing remarks to be televised for first time

Allowing TV cameras into London’s Old Bailey will help viewers ‘to understand the judicial process better by witnessing it for themselves’. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

The Old Bailey will be opened up to cameras on Thursday as sentencing remarks from a crown court case in England and Wales are broadcast for the first time.

The move, which comes after a change in the law, is intended to help the public get a better understanding of how sentencing decisions are taken. Previously, proceedings have only been broadcast at the supreme court (since its 2009 inauguration) and the court of appeal (since 2009).