Ex-BBC presenter Huw Edwards given suspended prison sentence

Bangkok Post Group

Former British TV presenter Huw Edwards, the long-time face of the BBC's flagship news program, was given a suspended sentence at a London court on Monday (September 16) after admitting making indecent images of children. - REUTERS

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00:00Former BBC TV presenter Hugh Edwards was given a six-month suspended sentence on Monday at

00:07a London court. The 63-year-old news anchor pleaded guilty in July to three charges of

00:13making indecent images of children, relating to 41 illegal images that he was sent via

00:19the messaging app WhatsApp. They included two pornographic videos of a child aged between

00:25seven and nine years old. The offence of making indecent images of children relates

00:30to the images that were sent to Edwards. Prosecutors did not allege Edwards had literally made

00:36the images in question. According to prosecutor Ian Hope, seven of the illegal images were

00:41of the most serious category. In response to one of the videos he received, Edwards

00:47asked the man sending them, quote, any more. Edwards' lawyer, Philip Evans, argued his

00:52client was at the time suffering with his mental and physical health and that he had

00:56no memory of actually viewing any particular images. He added Edwards was profoundly sorry

01:03and didn't use the images for any personal gratification. Monday's sentence sealed a

01:09fall from grace for Edwards, who was the long-time face of the BBC's flagship news programme.

01:14For the past two decades, he has been a household name across the UK. He had been chosen as

01:21the BBC's leading news anchor to announce the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. In

01:27response to the sentencing, a BBC spokesperson said, we are appalled by his crimes. He has

01:33betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him. Edwards' six-month

01:39suspended sentence means that he will not go to jail unless he commits another criminal

01:44offence in that time frame.

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