Australian Cardinal George Pell arrives for a meeting at the Vatican In March 2013 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

UPDATE | George Pell will spend his first night behind bars after a bail application was withdrawn.

Judge Peter Kidd ended Wednesday's proceedings by sending Pell into custody.

According to The Age, he was walked out of the silent courtroom by security guards, bowing to the Judge on the way out.

Pell didn't utter a word as he exited.

The entire gallery turned around in their seats and faced the back of the courtroom to witness the historic occasion.

Pell will be sentenced for his crimes in March.

EARLIER | George Pell is at the Supreme Court of Victoria for a pre-sentence hearing, where he was expected to apply for bail.

But in a surprise move, media outlets are reporting that the Court has now been advised that the bail application at the Court of Appeal previously listed for Wednesday afternoon has been withdrawn. 

That means this hearing will no longer go ahead and it is expected that Pell will be taken into custody.

On Tuesday we learnt that the 77-year-old had been found guilty of child sex crimes after assaulting two choirboys at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s.

He was found guilty in December on one count of sexual abuse and four counts of indecent assault against the two boys but those details were only made public on Tuesday, so as not to prejudice other cases.  

But Prosecutors withdrew all remaining charges and we were finally about to reveal that he had been convicted.

On Wednesday Cardinal Pell arrived in court with a walking stick (following knee surgery), at around 10:00AM.

He is due to be taken into custody.  Chief Judge Peter Kidd has kicked off the hearing.

The Age reports that Pell is seated alone and has largely been staring at the floor.

Security guards have been planted at either end of his row of seats.

The Age also blogged that Pell is dressed in the same clothing he wore on Tuesday, a black shirt and clerical collar and a beige jacket and dark pants.

Two Victim Impact Statements have been presented to the Country Court, one from a surviving victim, the other from the father of a deceased abuse victim.  

The Age reports that Pell's defence team argues the second submission shouldn't be considered as it doesn't come directly from the victim, who is deceased.

Both statements are allowed.

The Prime Minister will move to strip Cardinal Pell of his Order Of Australia if he loses an appeal against his conviction.

The court has just heard that Pell will be classified as a serious sex offender once he is sentenced.

Prosecutor Mark Gibson SC called on Pell to be jailed according to The Age.

George Pell's lawyer has referenced a number of people who have provided character references for Pell, one of whom is the former Liberal PM John Howard according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Defence Lawyer Robert Richter has told the court he accepts Pell will be imprisoned, the argument is about the nature and length of that term of imprisonment.

Pell’s lawyer just told the court “This is no more than plain vanilla sexual acts with a child who is not consenting”. I had to double check with our reporter inside court.

— Ahron Young (@AhronYoung) February 27, 2019

The Age reports that after defence lawyer Robert Richter finished his submissions, prosecutor Mark Gibson conceded George Pell's time in custody would be onerous.

We may not immediately find out where Pell will be jailed, with Judge Kidd asking Mr Gibson not to mention in open court any location where he will be imprisoned.

Pell is expected to be sentenced in the next couple of weeks.

More to come.