Australian cardinal George Pell to spend his first night in prison

Victorian state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd revoked Cardinal George Pell’s bail at the end of a sentencing hearing.

Mr Kidd said he would deliver his sentence on 13th March.

The 77-year-old Pell (pictured outside court yesterday), who could face five decades in prison, showed no expression as he walked from the dock with a cane escorted by three court security officers and a prison guard.

A jury unanimously convicted Pell in December of abusing the two 13-year-olds in 1996 weeks after becoming archbishop of Australia’s second-largest city.

But Pell was not taken into custody immediately because he had surgery scheduled to have both knees replaced.

Pell faced an abusive crowd on Wednesday as he entered court half an hour before his sentencing hearing was scheduled.

“I hope you burn in hell!” one man shouted while pushing against a cluster of police officers trying to shield the cardinal as he walked into the courthouse.

The court had until Tuesday forbidden publication of any details about the trial because Pell had faced a second trial in April on charges that he indecently assaulted two boys aged nine or 10 and 11 or 12 as a young priest in the late 1970s.

But prosecutor Fran Dalziel told the court on Tuesday that the charges had been dropped and asked for the suppression order to be lifted. The move came days…