Huw Edwards had indecent images of children ‘as young as seven’ -

Daily Telegraph 31/07/24

Huw Edwards, the former leading BBC presenter, has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, including one image of a child believed to be as young as seven years old.

Edwards, 62, who left the corporation last year, admitted at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday morning to possessing 41 indecent images, seven of which are Category A, the most serious.

Edwards wearing a dark blue suit, light blue shirt and white shirt, pleaded guilty to having seven Category A images, 12 category B images and 22 Category C images.

Standing in the centre of glass-panelled dock, Edwards, in a loud clear voice, confirmed his name, address and date of birth during the 26-minute long hearing.

Edwards ‘could get suspended sentence’

Prosecutor Ian Hope told the court that a suspended sentence might be considered for Edwards.

Setting out the potential penalties under the law, he said that where there is the prospect of rehabilitation a community order and sexual offender treatment programme could be considered as alternatives to a custodial sentence.

Sentencing guidelines set the starting point for any jail term for possession of a Category A image at 12 months, with a range of 26 weeks to three years.

The starting point is 26 weeks for a category B image, and a community order for category C, he said.

Aggravating features to be taken into account for Edwards include that the images included moving images, and the young age of the child thought to be seven to nine years old in two of the category A images.

Mitigating factors are Edwards’ early guilty plea, his previous good character, his mental health issues and what Mr Hope said is “genuine remorse”.