Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Huw Edwards, the former BBC news presenter who was one of the UK public broadcaster’s biggest stars, has pleaded guilty to accessing indecent images and videos of children as young as seven years old.
The 62-year-old, who for years was among the best known faces on British television, admitted on Wednesday to receiving 41 illegal pictures and videos from a man on the WhatsApp messaging platform. Seven were deemed to be Category A, the most serious type.
In a statement following his court appearance in central London, the BBC acknowledged that it had been made aware that Edwards had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences last November.
Edwards remained an employee until this April, when he resigned. The BBC stressed he had not been charged while he was on the broadcaster’s payroll.
The Welshman was the BBC’s highest-paid newsreader, who fronted the corporation’s flagship News at Ten programme and also presented coverage of events of national importance including the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Sitting alone in the dock and wearing a dark suit and blue tie, Edwards answered “guilty” to each of three charges put to him at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Prosecutors said Edwards had been sent 377 explicit still and moving images by an adult male who had initially contacted him on social media.
Police recovered a thread of a conversation on WhatsApp between Edwards and the man between December 2020 and August 2021.
The court heard that 41 of the images and films reached the threshold for criminality — seven considered to be Category A, 12 as Category B and 22 as Category C.
Ian Hope, for the prosecution, said several of the Category A images were believed to be of a child aged between 13 and 15, while another was of a child possibly as young as seven.
Edwards had asked the individual not to send illegal underage content, the court heard during a 25-minute hearing.
Philip Evans KC, defending Edwards, said the only charges related to images received over WhatsApp, and that the presenter did not keep the images. He had not forwarded them nor sought similar content from other sources, Evans added.
While Edwards was charged with “making” indecent images, Evans noted that this was a legal term and that there was no suggestion he had “in the traditional sense of the word created” any such content.
The barrister said that the star, who joined the BBC as a graduate trainee in 1984, had been “not only of good” but “exemplary” character and was suffering from both mental and physical health problems.
Edwards was at the centre of media attention last summer after reports emerged about alleged relationships that an unnamed BBC presenter had pursued with young people.
His wife, Vicky Flind, eventually confirmed the identity of the presenter at the centre of the allegations as her husband. Edwards was removed from presenting by the BBC during the episode.
He was charged with the indecent images offences on June 26. The BBC noted that the criminal charges were unrelated to the original complaint that was raised with the corporation last summer.
Had he been charged while he remained an employee the corporation would have acted immediately to dismiss him, the BBC said, adding that it was “shocked to hear the details” that had emerged in court.
Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement that Edwards’ prosecution “sends a clear message” that the authorities would “work to bring to justice those who seek to exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place”.
Edwards was granted conditional bail ahead of sentencing, which chief magistrate Paul Goldspring scheduled for September.
The court heard that a non-custodial sentence might be considered given mitigating factors, although Goldspring told Edwards that “all options” for sentencing would be assessed.
Charity NSPCC said: “Online child sexual abuse offences can have a devastating impact on victims and we should be in no doubt about the seriousness of Edwards’ crimes.”
It called for online platforms to “do much more to identify and disrupt child abuse in private messaging services”.
