Huw Edwards’ previous colleague Jon Sopel manufacturers his crimes ‘abhorrent’
Huw Edwards‘ former BBC colleague Jon Sopel has branded his crimes ‘absolutely abhorrent’ a year after he appeared in the media defending him.
Sopel’s intervention comes 58 days after the disgraced former News at 10 presenter pled guilty to three charges of making indecent photographs after he was sent 41 illegal images by a convicted paedophile.
Edwards’ career now lies in tatters after the sex offenders was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
But before he was charged former BBC News North America editor Sopel, 65, was one of Edwards’ biggest defenders after he went out on the airwaves several times to back him, claiming he had a ‘complicated private life’.
He led the fury against tabloid journalism, blasting the Sun’s story he paid a teenager £35,000 for ‘sordid images’ as ‘nonsense’ and describing the decision to publish as ‘half-cooked’.
But he has now turned on his convicted criminal ex-colleague, claiming the two ‘weren’t mates’ and saying he is not going to ‘defend anything that he’s done’.
The police mugshot of Huw Edwards after he was given a suspended sentence for child abuse images on September 16
But before he was charged former BBC News North America editor Sopel, 65, was one of Edwards’ biggest defenders after he went out on the airwaves several times to back him, claiming he had a ‘complicated private life’
Jon Sopel’s July 12, 2023, tweet which claimed his former colleague had a ‘complicated private life’
Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being spared jail on September 16
In an interview to promote his new book with the Guardian, Sopel responded to a question asking if he had been asked by Edwards to defend him.
Sopel, who left the BBC in 2022 after nearly 40 years, replied: ‘No, he didn’t ask me to do anything. I’ve known Huw a long time, but we weren’t mates, hadn’t seen each other socially.
‘The police came out and said there was nothing to it. I thought, if there’s nothing to it and he sent a couple of inappropriate texts, he’s just got a complicated private life.’
‘You do what you do for the right reasons.
‘I’m not going to defend anything that he’s done. It’s absolutely abhorrent.’
When Edwards was revealed to be the unnamed male BBC presenter who offered a teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images, the Metropolitan Police investigated and on July 12 confirmed there was no evidence to indicate a criminal offence had been committed.
Edwards was later convicted in a separate incident which involved him accessing indecent photographs of children as young as seven after a man he met online sent him hundreds of sexual images on WhatsApp.
Jon Sopel defends Huw Edwards on his The News Agents podcast on July 12, 2023
Shortly after Edwards stepped down from the BBC, Sopel went on Good Morning Britain on July 13, 2023, to defend his former colleague who he has known for more than three decades
Edwards held his hands together and steadied himself as Chief Magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, spared him jail earlier this month
It later emerged that the BBC knew of his arrest in November, on ‘suspicion of serious offences’, but continued employing him as the highest-paid news presenter on a £475,000 salary until April.
Shortly after Edwards stepped down from the BBC, Sopel went on Good Morning Britain on July 13, 2023, to defend his former colleague who he has known for more than three decades, saying: ‘We’ve had contact, obviously not since he has been hospitalised.
‘He was very angry, I think felt very let down by what happened in The Sun, furious with their coverage, not overly impressed with the BBC’s coverage either, and I think that he is just, I’m sure anyone who knows him is just wishing him well.’
Sopel, who now hosts the podcast The News Agents with Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall, went on to say that he and Edwards used to ‘compete against each other to get up the ladder at the BBC’, is ‘incredibly funny’ with ‘an acid wit’.
He said: ‘He can be a complicated person to deal with, I just think if you’re entering Huw’s orbit, he’s very defensive of his own territory, so I wouldn’t say we’re close friends but I thought that some of the coverage about someone’s private life, which is complicated and possibly a bit messy and that some might find distasteful, I don’t see what it’s got to do with anyone else.’
Sopel now hosts the podcast The News Agents with Emily Maitlis (pictured together) and Lewis Goodall
Jon Sopel and Emily Maitlis attend The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards in April 2024
Sopel also said at the time that he hoped Edwards would return to his broadcasting role, adding: ‘If at the end of this, what you are left with is someone who had some personal struggles about who he was, what he was, how he lived his life, and he made some ill considered judgements along the way, I think it would be such a shame if such a talented and gifted broadcaster, and the way he navigates state occasions and the big events and reads the news with such authority, if that is lost, I think it will be a great loss.
‘I hope he gets better, and I hope that some way, somehow, he’s back, providing that nothing else comes out that we don’t know about.’
After the Metropolitan Police initially ruled out criminality, Sopel said: ‘I don’t know what went on at The Sun. But it just seemed to me that they had a slightly half-cooked story that they decided to go with.
‘They went with the parents of a young man who was in turmoil and from a fractured family relationship. And they didn’t even carry the denial from this kid … It was nonsense.
‘I think the BBC is a complicated beast and it would be lovely to think of it as a streamlined organisation where one bit knows what the other is doing. But the BBC is a series of completely uncoordinated limbs.’
Edwards at the pinnacle of his career picking up a television award for Best Live Event for covering the late Queen’s funeral in June 2023
The News Agents is recorded around lunchtime and aims to drop by 5pm on weekdays. It has hit 100 million downloads
He said on The News Agents podcast: ‘I would also say that I think that some of my BBC colleagues in news need to look at themselves because I think some of what was said, reported, and led on last night again showed that [Huw] had a slightly complicated personal life.
‘It didn’t show criminality.’
Sopel also revealed to the Guardian he was being lined up to become the BBC’s political editor, but realised he didn’t want it due to ‘laziness’ as it would involve standing outside Downing Street at night in the rain.
But Sopel was not the only media star to come out in defence of Edwards.
Former BBC Political Editor Andrew Marr, also a former colleague of Edwards, told listeners to his radio show in July 2023: ‘We’re all human. We all have our frailties.
‘We both know that Huw Edwards has a very very nice and much-admired wife Vicky Flind and I think five children so there is a lot of family involved in this as well on his side.’
Former Newsnight host Emily Maitlis and Sopel’s The News Agents co-star meanwhile spoke out to claim Edwards’s behaviour should have been reported to the corporation’s HR department ‘rather than turned’ into a news story.
Left-wing warrior Owen Jones claimed in July 2023: ‘The Sun is a disgusting rag and they have to pay for what they’ve done to Huw Edwards.
Huw Edwards shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II during a royal visit to BBC Studios in London in June 2013. He enjoyed a glittering career until the scandal came to light
Alongside Sopel, former BBC Political Editor Andrew Marr (left) and left-wing warrior Owen Jones (right) also came out in defence of Edwards
‘They tried to destroy someone’s life with false claims of illegality involving a minor. We know now there was no criminality.’
Anti-newspaper pressure group Hacked Off used Edwards’s mental health claims to launch a campaign criticising the original media reports and calling for tougher regulation of the press.
Meanwhile online comedian Jonathan Pie got around two million views for a foul-mouthed video in which he ranted that Edwards’s behaviour was ‘nobody else’s business.
In the aftermath of the Huw Edwards scandal, the BBC is commissioning an independent review of its workplace culture.
Full timeline of Huw Edwards’ downfall
March 2023
Edwards announcing the news of Her Majesty’s death to the nation in September 2022
Huw Edwards signs new three-year deal with the BBC after praise for the way he led coverage of the Queen’s death.
It came after he was seen at the offices of the BBC’s biggest radio rival – Global – in August 2022. The News at Ten veteran admitted at the time he was ‘thinking about my future’.
In June that year he would pick up the best live event honour at the Tric Awards for being among those to cover the state funeral of the late Queen, and in February he received the Broadcast Awards’ special recognition award.
April 2023
Police were contacted but ‘no criminality was identified’.
May 6, 2023
Edwards hosts coverage of King Charles’ coronation as he lead the BBC broadcast of the historic event.
May 18, 2023
A family member of the young person, who was 17 at the time, made an in-person complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter.
May 19, 2023
A complainant contacted the BBC in a 29-minute call to the BBC’s audience services team, and the details were referred to the Corporate Investigations Team.
The family member reportedly asked the broadcaster to stop sending their family member cash.
The Corporate Investigations Team decided the complaint didn’t include an allegation of criminality, but merited more investigation.
The investigators email the complainant to get more information but they get no response.
June 6, 2023
After getting no reply to the email, the Corporate Investigations Team tries to call the complainant but the call does not connect.
However, the Sun reported later that the family said no one from the corporation phoned them for a proper interview after they complained.
The BBC said no more attempts to contact the family were made after this date, but that the case ‘remained open’.
July 5, 2023
Edwards is seen on screen for what would be the last time before the scandal became public, when he covered King Charles’ visit to Scotland
Huw Edwards is seen for the last time on the BBC as he covered King Charles’ visit to Scotland.
July 6, 2023
The Sun informs BBC Press Office about allegations against the star presenter.
The BBC launches an ‘incident management group’ of top executives after becoming aware of new allegations ‘of a different nature’ against the presenter.
It is the first time Mr Davie or any executive directors were made aware of the case, according to the BBC.
A senior manager holds the first conversation with the presenter concerned.
It is agreed he should not appear on air while the allegations are investigated.
July 7, 2023
The Sun published its exclusive which alleged that a BBC presenter, unnamed at the time, paid a total of £35,000 for sexual content to someone beginning when they were 17.
But a lawyer acting on behalf of the young person told The Sun that evening there was ‘no truth’ to the claims.
The BBC said it would investigate and it made contact with the Metropolitan Police.
July 8, 2023
The complainant sends the BBC ‘materials related to the complaint’.
There is a frenzy of speculation about the identity of the star. Gary Lineker, Jeremy Vine, Rylan Clark and Nicky Campbell all feel obliged to deny that they were the man in question.
July 9, 2023
A mocked up version of a reported Instagram message exchange between Edwards and a teenager
The BBC confirms that a male presenter has been suspended from all duties.
The Sun reports that the presenter allegedly made two phone calls to the young person and pleaded with them to call their mother to stop the investigation.
July 10, 2023
BBC representatives and Metropolitan Police detectives meet in the morning to discover if any crimes have been committed.
The young person claims through a lawyer that the allegations are ‘rubbish’.
In response, the Sun said it had ‘reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child’.
The parents stood by their account to the Sun and the stepfather was quoted in a story saying the allegations were originally put the the BBC ‘for an hour’.
July 11, 2023
Director-general Tim Davie sends an internal email to staff reiterating that the BBC is taking the allegations ‘incredibly seriously’
Director-general of the BBC Tim Davie defends the delay in speaking to the BBC presenter.
But the BBC admits there were ‘lessons to be learned’ prompting a boss to assess the protocols.
In the afternoon, new claims emerged from the BBC that the presenter sent threatening messages to a second young person.
It is claimed they met on a dating app, before the conversation moved to other platforms where the presenter revealed his identity.
He then allegedly sent a number of ‘threatening messages’ to the youngster, which the BBC has seen.
The Sun reported the star is also accused of breaking lockdown rules to meet a 23-year-old stranger from a dating site.
July 12, 2023
Huw Edwards pictured with his wife Vicky Find in South London in 2018. She has since separated from the former broadcaster in the wake of his recent scandals
Huw Edwards is revealed as the BBC presented by his wife Vicky Flind.
She said he was ‘suffering from serious mental health issues’.
The bombshell revelation came just moments after the police said they were ‘taking no further action’ in the case.
But BBC boss Mr Davie sent an email to staff informing them that an internal investigation would continue even though police were no longer involved.
The BBC reported fresh allegations from two current junior members of staff and one former member of staff who claim they were sent messages that made them uncomfortable.
July 12, 2023
Mr Davie asked for a second review of the BBC’s complaints protocols after it was revealed the family were only contacted twice by the corporation – despite the seriousness of the allegations.
November 8, 2023
Edwards is arrested, but tells noone.
Later speaking to MailOnline, one shocked former colleague and friend said: ‘Huw kept his arrest completely secret’.
They added: ‘It turns out he was arrested four months later and nobody knew. I had no idea until he was charged.’
February 27, 2024
The BBC apologised to the young person’s family, who’d complained about Edwards two months before he was suspended.
An independent report by Deloitte is published into the BBC’s complaints handling procedure
The publicly-funded broadcaster acknowledged that there had been ‘shortcomings’ in the way it had dealt with the case as it reviewed its complaints procedures.
April, 2024
Edwards took sanctuary in his beloved Wales and was being comforted in Carmarthenshire by his mother Aerona.
April 22, 2024
Edwards resigns from the BBC.
Broadcasting executive Stewart Purvis CBE said there is ‘relief across the BBC’ that the ‘extraordinarily damaging saga’ has been resolved.
He added that Edwards having ‘walked from the BBC’ will be viewed as ‘quite a successful outcome’ for the corporation.
June 26, 2024
Edwards is charged with the possession of indecent images of children.
Interrupting coverage of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ statement in the House of Commons, the BBC announced the breaking news on July 29.
According to the charge sheet, he was accused of having six category A images, 12 category B pictures and 19 category C photographs on WhatsApp.
July 23, 2024
The BBC’s annual report reveals Edwards was paid between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24 for 160 presenting days, BBC One news specials, election specials and other television programming.
This salary marked an increase from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and £439,999 for 180 days presenting on BBC One, as well as news specials.
This was despite him being absent from screens from when the story first broke in July last year until his exit nine months later in April 2024.
But he stayed on the payroll while suspended, which is normal BBC policy, and was suffering from serious mental health issues and received in-patient hospital care.
The BBC confirmed at the time of his departure that he had not received a pay-off and was leaving ‘on the basis of medical advice from his doctors’.
Director general Tim Davie defended the pay and the rise, confirming there was ‘no settlement payment.’ He also said he was not going to ‘get into who’s spoken to who’ when asked if he had spoken to Edwards since his resignation.
July 31, 2024
Edwards remained silent as he left the court building surrounded by the press today
Edwards pleads guilty to making 41 indecent images of children – and faces jail.
The newscaster admitted he kept seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile.
The sick child porn images showed youngsters aged between seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
He remained emotionless as he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, between December 2020 and August 2022.
His admission now leaves the former news star’s glittering four-decade career in tatters.
September 16, 2024
Edwards is sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
