Summary

  • The BBC director general Tim Davie has defended not sacking Huw Edwards after his arrest in November

  • Edwards kept his job despite the BBC knowing he had been arrested over the most serious category of indecent images of children

  • Police told the BBC not to share details of Edwards' arrest for child abuse image offences, a BBC source said earlier

  • Edwards resigned in April and was charged in June - he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children

  • A BBC employee who reported concerns about Edwards says they are "disappointed" at the corporation's internal inquiry

  • And a second whistleblower says Edwards was "pushy" when trying to arrange a meeting in a Windsor hotel

Live Reporting

Edited by Owen Amos

  1. BBC denounced 'abhorrent behaviour' after Edwards' court appearance

    BBC sign External Sign London, EnglandGetty Images

    After Huw Edwards pleaded guilty on Wednesday, the corporation said: "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."

    It said it had been "made aware in confidence" in November 2023 that Edwards "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," the statement continued.

    The corporation noted: "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."

    It reiterated that the BBC had "kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions" during this period.

    "We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards’ actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected," the statement said.

  2. Huw Edwards admitted to child abuse image charges

    Court sketch of Huw Edwards in Westminster Magistrates' Court on 31st July 2024.Julia Quenzler

    On Wednesday Huw Edwards, once the BBC’s most senior news presenter, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

    In a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court he admitted to having 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by another man on WhatsApp.

    They included seven category A images, the most serious classification - two of which showed a child aged between about seven and nine.

    Category A images show serious abuse including penetrative sexual activity.

    The court heard he had been involved in online chat on WhatsApp from December 2020 with an adult man, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.

    Police later revealed that the man who sent the images to Edwards was a convicted paedophile.

    Under the law, images can mean both video clips and still pictures. The Crown Prosecution Service said most of the category A images were estimated to show children aged between 13 and 15. Two clips showed a child aged about seven to nine.

  3. BBC faces questions over why it did not sack Edwards

    Marita Moloney
    Live page editor

    The BBC is facing questions about its handling of Huw Edwards in the wake of him pleading guilty over images that show child sexual abuse.

    The corporation said yesterday it knew Edwards had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences in November - something only made public this week - without detailing what the offences were.

    But it has since emerged that the BBC was told Edwards was under suspicion of child abuse image offences at that time.

    In its statement, it added that the former presenter would have been dismissed had he been charged while still employed by the BBC. Edwards resigned in April and was charged in June.

    At some stage today, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will speak with BBC director general Tim Davie over the phone to discuss the organisation's handling of the case.

    As a reminder, BBC News is editorially independent when reporting on the BBC and was not aware of the arrest nor charges against Edwards until they were made public on Monday.

    We'll be bringing you updates and analysis on this story, so stay with us.