Huw Edwards pleads guilty to making indecent images of children

Huw Edwards, the former BBC News presenter, has admitted to possessing 41 indecent images of children, including seven category A images.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court this morning where he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

The court heard that he engaged in a WhatsApp chat with an adult man from December 2020, who sent him a total of 377 sexual images, 41 of which were indecent images of children. In addition to the category A images, he also had 12 category B pictures and 22 category C photographs.

The pair exchanged pornographic images until April 2022, with the last indecent image of a child being sent in August 2021.

Edwards was arrested in November and charged last month. He is set to be sentenced on 16 September, with a probation report being compiled.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the creation of indecent images has a broad legal definition and can involve receiving them through social media.

The Metropolitan Police have clarified that these allegations were distinct from other widely reported claims that were 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.

As one of the BBC’s leading news presenters, broadcaster Edwards was a familiar face to millions of people and deemed ‘a safe pair of hands’ to oversee coverage during some of the world’s greatest historical events. Huw had been the main presenter of the BBC’s Ten O’Clock News, since January 2003, and also presented numerous other programmes for the corporation including on the BBC News Channel as well as Newsnight, Panorama and Breakfast News. Prior to hosting the 10 pm news programme from May 1999, he also presented the BBC’s Six O’Clock News.

Huw joined the BBC in 1984 as a news trainee. In 1985 he joined the television newsroom in BBC Wales, and in 1986 became BBC Wales’ Parliamentary Correspondent. He was appointed TV News Political Correspondent in 1988 and went on to cover the downfall of Margaret Thatcher in 1990.

Formerly Chief Political Correspondent for BBC News 24, Huw spent 12 years reporting politics at Westminster. He combined this with presenting a range of programmes on classical music on BBC Two, Radio 3, Radio 4 and S4C. He has co-hosted General Election results programmes on both radio and TV and was one of the lead presenters for the BBC’s Millennium coverage.

Earlier this week it was reported Edwards has split from his wife, TV producer Vicky Flind who he has been with since the early 1990s. He however was seen still wearing his wedding ring at court today.