Huw Edwards: Ex-BBC Presenter Pleads Guilty To Making Indecent Images Of Children
UPDATE: Huw Edwards has pled guilty to charges of making indecent images of children.
The former top-tier BBC newsreader entered Westminster Magistrates Court at 10 a.m. GMT sharp for his hearing and pled guilty to all charges. The starting sentence was positioned as 12 months and the court has been adjourned until September 16, when Edwards will return to Westminster.
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Edwards bowed his head as he said “guilty” to three charges of making indecent images of children, for making category A, category B and category C images. He also confirmed his name and address. This was the first time he’d been seen in public for months.
The court had initially only expected that Edwards would confirm name and address, and his pleas appeared to catch many by surprise.
The court heard that the former news anchor was in a chatroom, where he received a thread of images on WhatsApp during the period from a male. Prosecutors said these images were “clearly approved” by Edwards, and there were 377 of them in total, with 41 classified as indecent. The bulk were sent during a two-month period, prosectors said.
The charges were changed slightly in court, to have taken place between December 2020 and April 2021, not August 2022, while there were updates to the number of images, clarifying that there were seven category A images, 12 category B and 22 category C.
Of the seven category A, which are the most serious, the court heard that they were mostly of children aged 13 to 15 but there were two “moving images” of a young child, possibly aged between seven and nine.
The court heard how, in February 2021, Edwards was asked by the man if the images were of children who were too young, and that Edwards had told him not to send any underage images or anything illegal. After this, the pair only exchanged legal pornographic images, the court heard.
Defending Edwards, his lawyer Philip Evans KC said there was “no suggestion” that Edwards had made or created any of the images. “Making images” can include downloading them.
“The public understanding is important in terms of context here,” said Evans. “He did not keep the images nor send them to anyone else, and did not or has not sought any similar images anywhere else.”
Evans applied for a pre-sentencing report for Edwards to be filed and for the court to adjourn to September 16, once reports have come back from psychologists regarding Edwards’ mental health. This was agreed by the judge. Edwards has spent some of the past year in hospital since allegations emerged in The Sun last summer.
The judge, Paul Goldspring, said it is “appropriate to hear more about [Edwards’] motivation, your risk of re-offending and of course the health issues that have been foreshadowed this morning.”
“All of that is relevant to the sentence the court will decide upon,” he added. He left open the possibility that another court will have to sentence Edwards.
In an unusual move, Edwards’ lawyer also applied for his full address not to be read out in court due to “volatile” protests that had taken place outside, and this was agreed by the court.
A small group had been protesting outside the court against BBC presenters such as Edwards.
PREVIOUS: Huw Edwards, who was until April the BBC’s best-known and highest-paid news anchor, has arrived in court to face charges of making indecent images of children.
The Welsh broadcaster, who has been a fixture on British screens for decades, walked into London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing dark sunglasses and a suit. A huge media throng had gathered in the hour prior to his arrival in preparation for what could prove to be one of the highest profile media trials of the year.
Edwards was charged with three counts of “making indecent images of children” in late June following a months-long Metropolitan Police investigation. The offences, which are alleged to have taken place between December 2020 and April 2022, relate to images shared on a WhatsApp chat.
He is accused of having six category A images, 12 category B images and 19 category C images on his WhatsApp. Category A is defined as “images involving penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism.”
Edwards’ appearance today is a first hearing. He is in court having not been seen in public for a year. He stopped appearing on the BBC when allegations surfaced in The Sun last summer and exited the corporation in April 2024 on “medical advice” after “40 years of service,” the corporation said, coming just prior to him taking home his biggest pay packet in five years.
He was arrested five months before he left the BBC and charged just two months later. While the legal proceedings are active, the BBC is declining comment on Edwards’ case and is not saying whether it had continued paying him or whether it had knowledge of his arrest.
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