Huw Edwards,once the BBC’s most senior news presenter has pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!He admitted having 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by another man on WhatsApp, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
They included seven category A images, the most serious classification.
Until last year, Edwards was one of the main presenters on BBC One’s News at Ten and often fronted coverage of major national events.
He was arrested last November and charged last month. He will be sentenced on 16 September and a probation report will been compiled.
Edwards was flanked by police officers and surrounded by photographers as he entered and left the court on Wednesday.
He was expressionless outside court, and inside the hearing, which lasted for less than half an hour.
The court heard that he had been involved in online chat on WhatsApp from December 2020 with an adult man, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
As well as the category A images, he also had 12 category B pictures and 22 category C photographs.
On 2 February 2021, the other man asked whether what he was sending was too young, to which Mr Edwards asked him not to send any underage images, the court heard.
The final indecent image was sent in August 2021 – a category A film featuring a young boy.
The man told Edwards the boy was quite young looking, and that he had more images which were illegal, the court was told.
Mr Edwards told him not to send any illegal images.
No more were sent, and the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, making indecent images can have a wide definition in the law and can include receiving them via social media.
Edwards’s barrister Philip Evans KC told the court: “There’s no suggestion in this case that Mr Edwards has… in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any sort.
He added that Edwards “did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else.
Mr Evans also said the former broadcaster had experienced “both mental and physical” health issues.
The barrister told the court his client “was not just of good character, but of exceptional character.
Mr Edwards hasn’t been on air since last July. He resigned from the BBC on medical grounds in April.
The Metropolitan Police said the allegations were separate from other claims that were widely reported and investigated last year.
These allegations did not form part of the matter which was considered by police in July 2023. They were investigated separately as a standalone case,” a police spokesperson said.
