Your reputation is in tatters, Huw Edwards told as he’s spared jail
The former BBC newsreader was spared jail at Westminster magistrates’ court after pleading guilty in July.
Huw 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, a court was told yesterday (Monday).
The disgraced former BBC newsreader, 63, was spared jail but a judge said his “long-earned reputation is in tatters” as he gave him a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
After the hearing Sir Keir Starmer said he was “really shocked and appalled” by Edwards’s crimes.
The BBC said that Edwards had “betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him”.
Questions remain for the corporation over its handling of the scandal. The BBC paid Edwards about pounds 200,000 from last November until his resignation in April, despite knowing about his arrest on suspicion of serious offences. Edwards has been asked to repay the money but has yet to do so.
Westminster magistrates’ court was told yesterday (Monday) that Edwards was sent the pictures and videos by Alex Williams, who was 19 when he contacted the newsreader “for fun” in 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. Williams asked Edwards if he wanted “naughty pics and vids” of somebody described as “yng”. Edwards replied: “Go on.”
In total Edwards viewed seven category A images, which are deemed the worst, 12 category B photos and 22 in category C. Five of the category A images featured children aged between 13 and 15 while at least two moving images depicted a child believed to be “between seven and nine”.
On one occasion in December 2020, Edwards replied “f***” after being sent a video of an underage child and asked for more. The images involved a child aged 12 to 14, the court was told.
Edwards, who was paid up to £479,000 ($937,000) a year by the BBC, resigned in April this year and left without a payout. He was charged in June, and the following month admitted three charges of making indecent images of children. Yesterday (Monday) he walked into court with a small suitcase through a scrum of photographers, camera crews and reporters.
In the dock, Edwards spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He tilted his body away from reporters, including former BBC colleagues, as lawyers for the prosecution outlined the case against him.
He sat forward with his hands clasped to his face when the sentence was passed. Judge Paul Goldspring said: “It is obvious that until now you were very highly regarded by the public for your dedication and professionalism. You were perhaps the most recognised newsreader/journalist in the UK. It is not an overstatement to say your long-earned reputation is in tatters.
“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.”
While Edwards’s offending crossed the custody threshold, Goldspring said he did not present a “risk or danger to the public at large and specifically children”.
He said the combination of being “forced to confront your wrongdoing in a very public way”, seeking professional help and the input of probation officers “will rehabilitate you and thus strike the balance between public protection and rehabilitation”.
Edwards must undergo a 40-day sexual harm treatment program and 25 days’ rehabilitation. He was ordered to pay £3000 ($5870) costs and a £128 ($250) statutory charge. He will remain on the sex offenders register for seven years.
The former News at Ten presenter, who announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II on the BBC, denied having a sexual interest in children, the court was told. Despite this, the court was told details of one exchange in December 2020 during which Williams said he had “a file of vids and pics for you of someone special”. Edwards immediately queried this and received three images of a child aged between 14 and 16.
Asked if he wanted the full file, Edwards replied: “Yes xxx,” and he received about 30 indecent images. He also viewed a category A film before they wished each other “happy Christmas”, the court was told.
On several occasions Williams asked for a Christmas gift “after all the hot videos”. Edwards asked: “What do you need?” Williams said he wanted some Nike Air Force 1 trainers that cost about £100 ($195). Edwards offered to send him £200 ($391).
Ian Hope, for the prosecution, told the court: “Mr Edwards was paying not insignificant sums of money to Alex Williams which [he] directly asked for on several occasions, as gifts or presents, apparently off the back of sending pornographic images to Mr Edwards, about which images they chatted.”
Williams said the money was used to support him at university and amounted to between £1000 and £1500.
Philip Evans KC, representing Edwards, said it was wrong to suggest his client “used his status to obtain indecent images of children”. He also stressed that the money sent to Williams was “not paid for the purpose of receiving indecent images”.
Edwards is said to have no memory of viewing any particular images and claimed he did not gain any sexual gratification from them, nor did he further distribute them.
Evans 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.”
The charges to which Edwards pleaded guilty were unrelated to allegations in The Sun in July last year that he had paid a young person £35,000 ($68,000) and received explicit images from them.
Following the reports, Edwards, a father of five, was taken off air and suspended from his role. Vicky Flind, his wife, revealed he had suffered a serious mental health episode and was in hospital. Edwards was arrested in November after detectives at South Wales police seized a mobile phone containing WhatsApp messages between Edwards and Williams, who had used the dark web to view and distribute indecent images. Williams, now 25, was convicted of seven charges of distributing and possessing indecent images, including one charge of possessing prohibited images of children. In March he received a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.
The prime minister, when asked about Edwards’s sentence, told reporters: “I’m not going to get into the business of commenting on court sentences. That is a matter for the court. But was I shocked by what I have seen and heard? You bet I was.”
Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the hearing: “Accessing indecent images of children perpetuates the sexual exploitation of them, which has deep, long-lasting trauma for these victims.
“This prosecution sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the police, will work to bring to justice those who seek to exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place.”
The Times
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