Mother of Huw Edwards’ sufferer hits out after BBC star avoids jail
The mother of a teenager ‘groomed’ by Huw Edwards has questioned if there are more victims out there, after the fallen BBC star avoided prison but his phone was never examined.
Edwards, 63, was sentenced yesterday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court having admitted having 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by a paedophile on WhatsApp.
The images included seven category A images, the most serious classification, with two involving a child aged around seven to nine in the vile picture collection.
But he was spared jail, receiving six months in prison suspended for two years instead – to the anger of many. However, this is far from unusual.
The disgraced BBC News star’s remorse, mental health issues and prison overcrowding could have been considerations that counted in his favour.
But the furious mother of a young man who Edwards paid £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures – which is separate from the offences for which he was sentenced – said she wanted him to be locked up and slammed the police for missing the chance to look through his phone.
Edwards, 63, was sentenced yesterday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court having admitted having 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by a paedophile
He made no comment as he walked into the modern courthouse
Edwards made his way through the media melee before being driven away in a black Mercedes when at court on July 31
The disappointed mother told The Sun: ‘I’m devastated Edwards hasn’t gone to prison for the things he did. He’s exploited young children for his own sick ends and should have been jailed.
‘People have been jailed for years for rioting — yet paedophiles sharing pictures of young children being sexually abused somehow doesn’t warrant the same punishment?’
She also slammed the police for being slow to act and missing the chance to examine Edwards’ phone and laptop.
She said: ‘It’s shocking that police didn’t recover the phone he was using to receive the child abuse images. It makes me think, how many more victims are there?’
Liam Kotrie, a criminal defence solicitor at Mary Monson Solicitors who has dealt with ‘hundreds’ of sex abuse image cases, said first time offenders were very rarely jailed.
However, he said it was ‘very rare’ for someone like Edwards who had received a Category A image – the most serious category – not be sentenced in crown court or receive a sexual harm prevention order.
‘I’ve never heard of a case of possession of category A images that stayed in magistrates court for sentencing, it’s very unusual. I’ve never had that and I’ve done hundreds of them,’ he told MailOnline.
‘And the fact that he didn’t receive a sexual harm prevention order is very rare.
Welsh police uncovered the broadcaster’s crimes during a separate probe into a sex offender in Wales. Edwards is pictured in court
Alex Williams, 25, shared indecent images with Huw Edwards that led to the newsreader’s downfall. Williams is pictured here as a teenager on a family trip to a Welsh beauty spot
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard on Monday how Huw Edwards had replied ‘yes xxx’ when asked if he wanted a set of indecent images of children (note: This is not the actual text message exchange)
It was also told that Edwards had told Williams that ages ‘can be deceptive’ when told one of the subjects in an image was ‘quite yng looking’, before asking if he had ‘any more? (note: This is not the actual text message exchange)
‘I had a case where someone had a handful of Category C images where someone managed to convince a judge not to give them a sexual harm prevention order, but they are almost always given for these cases.
Yesterday, the disgraced news anchor stared down at the ground as he left court with his life in tatters.
Edwards held his hands together and leaned forward throughout his sentencing hearing. He then let out a ‘small sigh’ as he was handed six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
He smiled broadly as he left the courtroom accompanied by a member of his legal team – carrying the same small suitcase he had brought with him, possibly in anticipation of being jailed.
He later walked onto the street with his legal team before being driven away in a black Mercedes. A mugshot released of the presenter showed him staring at the camera – dead eyed and gaunt – with silver stubble across his face.
But his BBC ex-colleagues are disgusted by his crimes and believe he should have been sent to prison and forced to give back the £200,000 he was paid by their bosses after his arrest.
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court
Edwards was previously anchor of News at Ten and one of Britain’s most prominent newsreaders
A BBC spokesperson said after its former broadcaster Huw Edwards was sentenced: ‘We are appalled by his crimes. He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.’
Director General Tim Davie is yet to comment but one former colleague told MailOnline today: ‘He should be in prison. He was chatting with a paedo for four years who then sent him child porn. And he didn’t go to the police. Yet he’s in court trying to suggest he is a victim. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so abhorrent’.
Another insider said that Edwards’ crimes were ‘so sick’.
The 63-year-old sent hundreds of pounds to Alex Williams, who in turn sent him porn, some of which he called ‘amazing’. The disgraced broadcaster had also told the convicted paedophile ‘go on’ when asked if he wanted ‘naughty pics and vids’ of somebody described as young.
Edwards also wrote ‘yes xxx’ when he was asked by Williams if he wanted sexual images of a person whose ‘age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16’. He was also sent two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine-years-old.
Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April, has been asked to repay the £200,000 salary he has received since his arrest.
A mocked up version of a reported Instagram message exchange between the BBC star and a teenager
Edwards, who was born in Bridgend and brought up in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, joined the BBC as a trainee in 1984. Pictured on the six o’clock news in 1999
He has so far refused and will also keep his pension.
BBC staff have described being ‘warned’ about ‘thin-skinned’ Edwards when they started working there – and said that he should be put in prison for what he has done.
MailOnline revealed there is great animosity towards him at the Beeb, who have been rocked by yet another child sex scandal after Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris.
One BBC staffer said: ‘He still hasn’t repaid his salary and dragged us through the mud again.
‘Many at the BBC want him to pay for what he has done. He has played the system’.
A former colleague said: ‘Huw had huge talent and presence but has always been very prickly and thin-skinned’.
And Zoe Lambourne, chief operating officer at child safety data institute Childlight, said the case is sadly far from unusual.
‘We’re in the grip of a hidden pandemic, with an estimated 1.8 million UK people involved in sexually abusing and exploiting children online,’ she said.
‘This public health emergency is too big for law enforcement to counter alone but crucially, it is preventable through joint action to ensure child safety is always paramount.’
The NSPCC’s Rani Govender added: ‘Online child sexual abuse is at record levels and offenders like Edwards who fuel this crime should be in no doubt about its severity and the impact it has on victims.
‘Companies must also act by putting technology in place that can identify and disrupt child abuse images being shared on their messaging services so victims can be safeguarded and offenders prosecuted.’
Lynn Perry, of children’s charity Barnardo’s, said: ‘Tens of thousands of children are sexually exploited or groomed online every year.
‘We urge tech companies to take action to make sure abuse material can’t be shared on their platforms.
‘When children are abused, and images of this are shared online, they must receive urgent, specialist support — something that is sadly unavailable to many children nationwide.’
Speaking to The Times about the difference in sentencing between Edwards and the rioters, Toby Young – the director of the Free Speech Union – said: ‘It’s hard not to conclude we have a two-tier criminal justice system in which Islamophobia is punished more severely than paedophilia.’
