Huw Edwards: disgraced former BBC presenter avoids jail over indecent images of children

On 19th September 2024, Huw Edwards was given a six month prison sentence suspended for two years by Westminster Magistrates Court in London, after he had previously admitted three counts of "making" indecent images of children. The court heard how he paid up to £1,500 to a paedophile who sent him 41 illegal images between December 2020 and August 2021, seven of which were of the most serious type.

Of those images, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was aged between seven and nine. The newsreader was sent the illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams over WhatsApp. Williams was charged in relation to his WhatsApp chat with Edwards and was convicted of seven offences following an investigation by South Wales Police - receiving a 12-month suspended sentence.

Sentencing him, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring told Edwards his "reputation is now in tatters" and called his crimes "extremely serious offences". As part of his sentence, the 63-year-old must attend a sex offender treatment programme and 25 rehabilitation sessions. He is also required to sign the sex offenders' register for seven years and pay £3,128 in costs and a victim surcharge.

The court heard that Edwards had told his probation officer that his offending arose out of his fixation on online communications of a sexual nature, his poor mental health, using alcohol and the deterioration of his marriage. The hearing was told of Edwards' "long-standing mental health struggles" and how he had been diagnosed with arteriosclerosis - a vascular disease which causes the gradual hardening of arteries - last December.

Mr Hope noted "the effect of these conditions includes impact on and impairment of mood, behaviour and judgement". The court heard Edwards is an in-patient at a private hospital.

There has been much outcry that Edwards was not jailed for his crimes. 

From a legal perspective, the offence he committed could in theory lead to 10 years in jail but, in practice, detailed sentencing guidelines, developed over years of comparing varying cases, save that severe punishment for the cases/people who are producing the images that Williams went on to share. Edwards, by receiving them, was at the bottom of that chain of abuse so his sentence was likely to be much less severe than the maximum 10 years - and, likely to be shorter than the 12 months suspended sentence given to Alex Williams in March.

However, whilst he was able to retain his liberty, he must keep the police informed of his whereabouts and it will be difficult for him to travel abroad but ultimately, his career, indeed his life, has been irreparably ruined.