By Rob Harris
London: One of Britain’s highest profile TV presenters has been spared jail after he admitted charges of making indecent images of children.
Huw Edwards, who delivered the news of Elizabeth II’s death, and was paid up to £479,000 ($937,817) a year by the BBC, resigned from the public broadcaster earlier this year following a scandal over claims that he paid a teenager for explicit pictures. He was charged in June, and the following month admitted three charges of making indecent images of children.
Huw Edwards leaves court with a six-month suspended jail term for accessing indecent images of children.Credit: Getty Images
Edwards was one of the best known TV presenters in the UK and presented the BBC’s flagship News at Ten evening program for two decades. The broadcasting giant has since all but admitted that the historic announcement of the monarch’s death can never be shown again.
A judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court said Edwards’s long-earned reputation was “in tatters” as he handed him a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Edwards, who was said to have a “low risk” of re-offending, must undergo a 40-day sexual harm treatment program and 25 days’ rehabilitation.
Former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards in a police photograph.Credit: AP
He will remain on the sex offenders register for seven years.
The court heard Edwards sent a university student up to £1500 ($2900) including money for new trainers at Christmas after he received “hot videos” and indecent images of children.
The court was told that Edwards was sent the pictures and videos by Alex Williams, who was 19 when he contacted the newsreader “for fun” in early 2018. They exchanged “sporadic” messages on social media and Edwards later received and viewed 377 sexual images between December 2020 and August 2021.
The bulk were “lawful” images of younger-looking adult men, but 41 were indecent images of children which were sent to him on WhatsApp – including some showing a victim aged between seven and nine, while most were of 13- to 15-year-olds.
After the hearing, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “really shocked and appalled” by Edwards’s crimes, while the BBC said in a statement its former top-paid star had “betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him”.
A mugshot, taken after his arrest in November, showed the almost unrecognisable face of a man with stubble, bags under his eyes, red in the face and with a small nick to the top of his forehead.
Wearing a buttoned-up navy cardigan and white shirt without a tie in court, Edwards spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He turned his body away from reporters, including former BBC colleagues, as prosecutors outlined the case against him.
Judge Paul Goldspring said: “The loss of your distinguished career and the financial and reputational damage caused are not, in my view, significant mitigating factors, but rather natural consequences of your behaviour which you brought upon yourself”.
The judge said Edwards had been residing as an inpatient at a mental health facility since his last court appearance, and that his stay had been extended on the advice of his psychiatrist.
Edwards was said during the trial to have no memory of viewing any particular images and claimed he did not gain any sexual gratification from them, nor did he distribute them.
Philip Evans, KC, representing Edwards, told the court: “He is profoundly sorry. He knows he has hurt and damaged his family and his loved ones around him … he is truly sorry that he has committed these offences.”
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