- Anchor sentenced to 6 months in prison suspended for 2 years.
- Edwards' attorney says he suffered from physical and mental health problems.
- The BBC, appalled by his crime, says he has betrayed the public's trust.
LONDON: Former British television presenter Huw Edwards, the long-time face of British television, from the BBC London's leading news programme was given a suspended sentence in a London court on Monday after admitting making indecent images of children.
Monday's sentence sealed the fall from grace for Edwards, a household name in Britain for about two decades, who as from the BBC The leading news presenter announced Queen Elizabeth's death to the nation in 2022.
Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty in July to three counts of making indecent images of children, relating to 41 illegal images sent to him via WhatsApp, including two pornographic videos of a boy aged between seven and nine.
Judge Paul Goldspring sentenced Edwards to six months in prison suspended for two years, meaning Edwards will not go to jail unless he commits another criminal offence during that time.
Seven of the illegal images were of the most serious category, prosecutor Ian Hope said, and both videos were marked as “read” on WhatsApp. In response to the second video, Edwards asked the man who sent them: “Are there any more?”
The offence of making indecent images of children relates to the images that were sent to Edwards. Prosecutors did not allege that Edwards had actually made the images in question.
His lawyer, Philip Evans, said Edwards was suffering from physical and mental health problems at the time of the offence and could not recall seeing any particular images.
“He did not use them for any personal gratification and he did not derive any gratification from those indecent images,” Evans said.
Edwards added that he was “deeply sorry.”
“It recognises the repugnant nature of such indecent images and the harm done to those who appear in them.”
Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement: “Access to indecent images of children perpetuates the sexual exploitation of them, which has deep and lasting trauma for these victims.”
The judge said Edwards' reputation was now “in tatters” but the personal impact on Edwards was “the natural consequence of your self-inflicted behaviour”.
TO BBC The spokesman said: “We are appalled by his crimes. He has betrayed not only the BBCbut an audience that placed its trust in him.”
