BBC Admits It Was Aware Huw Edwards Had Been Arrested Five Months Before He Quit

The BBC has admitted it knew Huw Edwards had been arrested over making indecent images of children five months before he left the corporation on “medical advice” in April 2024.

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Delivering its first statement on the matter days after Edwards was charged, and coming on the day he pled guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court , a BBC spokesperson said it was “made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.” This was in November.

“At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health,” said the spokesperson, whose note was shared with BBC staff.

The BBC said it would have “acted immediately to dismiss him” had he been charged at any point between when he was arrested in November and when he left in April 2024.

“In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC,” added the spokesperson. “During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.”

Last week’s annual report showed Edwards earned his biggest pay packet for five years , for a year in which he was arrested midway through and barely worked for the BBC following allegations that emerged in The Sun. The BBC today quoted the police confirming that those Sun allegations were “not connected” to those that Edwards pled guilty to in court.

“Shocked to hear the details”

The BBC said it was “shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today,” adding: “We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards’ actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.”

The corporation was responding a few hours after Edwards pled guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

He will return to Westminster Magistrates Court on September 16, where he will face sentencing and could go to prison. His guilty pleas today took many in the court by surprise, having assumed that he would only speak to confirm his name and address.

His fall from grace has been spectacular. He was one of the faces of BBC News for decades, helmed election coverage and announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Top BBC presenter takes swipe at Edwards

Huw Edwards Charged Over Indecent Images Of Children

Meanwhile, one of the BBC’s top presenters took a swipe seemingly at Edwards for using his poor mental health as a mitigating factor for any potential sentencing.

Nicky Campbell posted around an hour ago: “And if mental health was mitigation for every custodial crime the prisons wouldn’t be at bursting point. They’d be half full.”

He was posting after the court was adjourned earlier when Edwards’ lawyer successfully petitioned to have a pre-sentencing report filed to the judge, which will include a report on Edwards’ mental health. The former newsreader has spent some of the past year in a hospital and Edwards’ lawyer was keen to stress the poor state of his mental health over the past year.

The BBC statement in full

“The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today.  There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.

“The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023, nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.

“In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.

“Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.

“During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.

“We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards’ actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.”

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