Huw Edwards: Former BBC presenter given suspended sentence over indecent images of children
Huw Edwards: Former BBC presenter given suspended sentence over indecent images of children
The disgraced newsreader is told his "reputation is in tatters" as he is sentenced for three charges after he was sent 41 illegal images by a convicted paedophile.
Huw Edwards has been spared jail for accessing indecent images of children as young as seven.
The former BBC presenter was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London after he pleaded guilty to three counts of "making" indecent images of children.
The court heard how he paid up to £1,500 to a paedophile who sent him 41 illegal images between December 2020 and August 2021, seven of which were of the most serious type.
Of those images, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was aged between seven and nine.
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As part of his sentence, the 63-year-old must attend a sex offender treatment programme and 25 rehabilitation sessions.
He is also required to sign the sex offenders' register for seven years and pay £3,128 in costs and a victim surcharge.
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The court heard that Edwards had told his probation officer that his offending arose out of his fixation on online communications of a sexual nature, his poor mental health, using alcohol and the deterioration of his marriage.
The hearing was told of Edwards' "long-standing mental health struggles" and how he had been diagnosed with arteriosclerosis - a vascular disease which causes the gradual hardening of arteries - last December.
Mr Hope noted "the effect of these conditions includes impact on and impairment of mood, behaviour and judgement".
The court heard Edwards is an in-patient at a private hospital.
I wonder what his sentence would be if he wasn't both rich and, more importantly, connected to the BBC.
I did wonder this myself but I see that the guy who supplied the images also got a 12 month suspended sentence and I'd assume his crimes were as bad, probably worse.
It doesn't send a good message to those swapping (not creating) child abuse content online though.
Looking it up at least a year behind bars for the worst of images, seems low
He fucking PAID for CP. I'm so goddamn sick of these "laws for thee but not for me" crowd. I wish every single one of them the most painful hell imaginable. Fuck.
Exactly, you or I would be doing a 10 stretch (and rightly so) and I'm not sure if I buy the mental health excuse. Just seems a bit of a cop out.