“The defendant will then be taken to the cells under the court to wait for the transport to jail. They will be taken to the sentencing hearing from prison and returned to jail afterwards .”
A trifle presumptive, Eddie. Under the Bail Act 1976 Bail should only be denied if there is evidence to suggest that the defendant might:
(a) Abscond (i.e. not the next hearing)
(b) Interfere with the course of justice (in particular with witnesses) or
(c) Commit further offences.
On occasions when a very serious offence (such as murder) is being considered the court will use the fact that the nature and seriousness of the offence makes a lengthy custodial sentence inevitable and thus considers that the defendant may be likely to abscond. But apart from that bail should be granted.
The fact that a guilty plea has been entered and that the matter is sent to the Crown Court does not on its own provide an exception to the Bail Act. Furthermore, in many cases, especially with “Either-Way” offences (which can be dealt with either in the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court) just because the matter is sent to the Crown Court is often no justification to suspect that an immediate custodial sentence is inevitable.
Like most other criminal court hearings, unless the defendant is under 18, sentencing hearings are open to the public.