LONDON — Former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards, once one of Britain’s most prominent media figures, was given a suspended prison sentence Monday for storing indecent images of children on his mobile phone.
Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July to three charges of making indecent images of children, relating to pictures sent to him via the messaging service WhatsApp by a convicted paedophile.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sentenced Edwards to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
“It is no exaggeration to say that the reputation that has been built up over the years has been shattered,” Goldspring said.
Edwards’ fall from grace over the past year has thrown the BBC into turmoil after it emerged the public broadcaster had paid him five months’ salary – about 200,000 pounds ($263,000) – after his arrest while on holiday in November and is now seeking his repayment.
Edwards was one of the BBC’s highest-earning staff until he was suspended in July 2023 last year following multiple allegations involving teenage girls who he allegedly paid for sexually explicit photographs.
Police investigated and decided not to press charges.
Edwards, whose name was not made public when these allegations emerged, was later revealed by his wife to be the news anchor who was the subject of the investigation and who had been hospitalized for serious mental health issues.
He never returned to broadcasting, but the BBC continued to employ him until he resigned in April for ill health reasons.
Edwards began his BBC career in Wales 40 years ago.
He would go on to be the main anchor of the nightly news for the next 20 years, leading the 2022 funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and election coverage.
