Edwards could face jail over indecent images of children

The former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards faces a possible jail sentence after admitting accessing indecent photographs of children as young as seven.

- Haroon Siddique

Edwards, 62, who spent 40 years at the corporation, during which he was a fixture in its coverage of major political and royal events, pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates court yesterday to three charges of making indecent images of children after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams.

The court heard that Edwards had been involved in an online chat with an adult male, now known to be Williams, on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021 who sent him 377 sexual images, including 41 indecent images of children, of which seven were category A (the worst), 12 category B and 22 category C. 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 on 15 March.

Wearing a dark suit, Edwards, who had been flanked by eight police officers on his arrival at the court, sat staring into the distance after admitting the charges, adjusting his tie as the prosecutor, lan Hope, laid out the case against him.

The guilty pleas represent a dramatic fall from grace for Edwards, who less than two years ago announced Queen Elizabeth II's death on the BBC and presented coverage of her funeral before anchoring the broadcast of King Charles's coronation last year.