(London) For a long time, he was the BBC's most famous journalist: Huw Edwards was sentenced on Monday to a six-month suspended prison sentence and a mandatory treatment requirement for possession of child pornography, the conclusion of an embarrassing case for the public broadcaster.
Updated yesterday at 8:51 a.m.
James PHEBY
Agence France-Presse
The 63-year-old former presenter, who has been inseparable from the most significant events in the United Kingdom since the early 2000s, pleaded guilty in July, thus avoiding a long media trial.
He faced a possible 10-year prison sentence, but the judge at Westminster Magistrates Court followed the prosecution's submissions, which highlighted his psychological problems and the “genuine remorse” he expressed.
“Your reputation is in tatters,” Judge Paul Goldspring told the presenter as he handed down the sentence.
During the hearing, Huw Edwards' lawyer Philip Evans said his client acknowledged the “disgusting nature” of the photos and videos he had received and was “deeply sorry”.
“He has betrayed the inestimable trust of so many people,” he insisted, while Huw Edwards had only spoken at the start of the hearing to confirm his identity.
The case caused a huge stir in Britain and embarrassed the BBC. In early August, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “shocked and appalled”.
“We are appalled by his crimes. He has not only betrayed the BBC, but the public who trusted him,” a BBC spokesperson said in a written statement.
$850,000 salary
Married and father of five children, Huw Edwards was born in Wales. He joined the BBC in 1984. A political journalist, he became the presenter of the 6pm news in 1994, before becoming the face of the 10pm news.
His composure, combined with the broadcaster's reputation for impartiality, made him a reliable and reassuring presence for millions of viewers.
From the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (2011) to the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II (2022): Huw Edwards was the highest-paid journalist with a salary for the year 2023-2024 of more than £475,000 (more than $850,000).
His fall came abruptly in the summer of 2023, when the tabloid The Sun claimed he paid a teenager for sexual photos and was suspended. No charges were filed at the time.
But new accusations led the courts to indict him in June 2024, two months after his resignation.
This time, the investigation shows that Huw Edwards was in contact on WhatsApp with a man who was sending him child pornography images. The charges against him related to 41 images, some showing a child aged seven to nine, received between December 2020 and August 2021.
BBC weakened
The illegal images found had been “clearly sent with Mr Edwards' consent”, according to the prosecution.
Huw Edwards' lawyer insisted that his client had only received the images, without sharing them.
“Access to indecent images of children perpetuates their sexual exploitation, causing deep and lasting trauma for these victims,” Claire Brinton, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the hearing.
The affair has dealt a major blow to the BBC. Severely criticised for its handling of the scandal, it carried out an internal investigation which concluded that its procedures for dealing with complaints about the behaviour of its employees were inadequate.
The audiovisual giant, which said it was “shocked” by the affair, announced that it was seeking to recover the salaries paid to its former presenter after his arrest last November.
The group remains traumatised by its handling of several sex scandals, first and foremost the Jimmy Savile affair, which broke in 2012, a year after the death of the star presenter, who had raped and sexually assaulted minors for decades.
The BBC, which is engaged in a major savings plan, draws most of its income from the licence fee paid by viewers. But this model has been criticised and it has recently launched a review to reform it.
