- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
- Italy seen overtaking France as world's largest wine producer
- Hezbollah vows vengeance on Israel for pager blasts
- Brook expects unified England after McCullum's white-ball takeover
- Kamindu Mendis century rescues Sri Lanka against New Zealand
- Two dead in botched armed raid on Russian retailer's office
- UK train drivers back govt pay deal to end strikes
- Man who copied French rapist says he deserves to punished
- Eriksen will wait to settle Man Utd future
- Former England striker Carroll signs for fourth-tier Bordeaux
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ |
Ex-BBC anchor avoids jail over 'repugnant' images of children
Ex-BBC anchor Huw Edwards, once one of the most trusted and recognisable faces on British TV, on Monday avoided jail at his sentencing over indecent pictures of children, capping a stunning fall from grace.
The 63-year-old presenter was instead handed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, meaning he will not serve any time in prison if he does not reoffend.
Edwards guided Britons through some of their country's most seismic events over the past two decades, including the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
His calm delivery -- mixed with the public broadcaster's reputation for journalistic impartiality -- made him a reassuring presence for millions.
But his reputation and career now lie in tatters after he pleaded guilty in July to three charges of making indecent images of children between December 2020 and August 2021.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer -- a former chief state prosecutor -- said he was "shocked and appalled" by the case.
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said at the sentencing that, if jailed, Edwards would have been at risk of "considerable harm" from others, and of suicide, adding that he had also shown remorse.
Edwards showed little emotion as was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London, sitting in the dock with his hands clasped as if in prayer.
He left without speaking to the assembled media, which packed out the courtroom.
The former anchor admitted receiving 41 indecent images of children over WhatsApp sent by a 25-year-old convicted paedophile, including seven of the most serious type.
Most children were aged 13 to 15 and one was between seven and nine.
But the magistrate said that while the offences were extremely serious there was no need for an immediate custodial sentence.
He ordered that he also attend a sex offenders' treatment programme for 40 days as well as 25 days of rehabilitation.
Defence lawyer Philip Evans told the court Edwards accepted the "repugnant nature of the images" and was "profoundly sorry" for having "betrayed so many people".
Edwards had faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
He was first arrested in November last year and charged in June, but the case was only revealed publicly in late July, just days before his court appearance.
The Welsh presenter resigned from the BBC in April on "medical advice" after 40 years with the broadcaster.
The taxpayer-funded BBC, whose brand is built on public trust, has admitted being made aware by police of the arrest and has been criticised for continuing to pay Edwards a salary for six months afterwards.
"We are appalled by his crimes," a spokesperson said after the sentencing. "He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him."
- 'Disrepute' -
The BBC has been rocked in recent years by scandals that saw some big names revealed as serial sex offenders, amid reports of a culture of covering up.
Most notoriously, presenter Jimmy Savile was found to have abused hundreds of young girls over decades, with his crimes only coming to light after his death in 2011.
Edwards was made anchor of the BBC's flagship 10:00 pm news bulletin in 2003.
As well as the funeral of the late queen, Edwards narrated the wedding of heir to the throne Prince William to Kate Middleton and helmed UK general election coverage.
But the father-of-five's professional life began to unravel in July 2023 when he was suspended by the BBC following allegations in a tabloid newspaper that he paid a young man for explicit images.
Edwards did not comment on the allegations, but his wife released a statement saying her husband was "suffering from serious mental health issues" and receiving "in-patient hospital care".
The police's criminal investigation into Edwards started after a phone seized by officers as part of an unrelated probe revealed his participation in a WhatsApp conversation.
E.Borba--PC