Lawyers and lords hail 'overdue' Crown Court first as sentences to be filmed for first time

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Legal history will be made on Thursday morning — as a Crown Court sentencing will be filmed for the first time. On Thursday, Judge Sarah Munro QC is expected to be filmed as she passes sentence on Ben Oliver for the manslaughter of his grandfather.

The footage will be broadcast on news channels and made available online through Sky News, BBC, ITN and the PA news agency. The move to allow cameras in the Crown Court follows a change in the law in 2020, but implementation was delayed in the pandemic.

It will open up some of the most high-profile courts and allow the public to see and hear judges explain the reasoning behind their sentences.

Only the judge will be filmed during any sentencing to protect the privacy of victims, witnesses and jurors. Although London will be the site of the first filming, the law allows for any Crown Court to be filmed with the judge’s permission — so could head to Greater Manchester soon. READ MORE:Inside abandoned Manchester theatre left empty and decaying for decades One lawyer who has welcomed the move with cautious optimism is Matthew Condrad, a former trial lawyer for six years with firm Slater and Gordon.