Huw Edwards showed ‘no remorse’ and needs to take responsibility
Huw Edwards showed ‘no remorse’ for his behaviour and needs to take responsibility, journalist Mariella Frostrup has scathingly declared.
The disgraced former News at Ten presenter, 63, pleaded 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 offender was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
Presenter and campaigner Frostrup, 61, said that his ‘horrible story’ was exacerbated by his ‘reaction’.
She said that the fact the Welshman blamed ‘everyone else’ for his problems – his family for not noticing he was taking medicine, his toxic father and being rejected from Oxford University 46 years ago.
Presenter and campaigner Mariella Frostrup, 61, said that Huw Edwards’s ‘horrible story’ was exacerbated by his ‘reaction’
The police mugshot of Huw Edwards after he was given a suspended sentence for child abuse images on September 16
But before Edwards was charged former BBC News North America editor Sopel, 65, was one of Edwards’ biggest defenders and 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’
Speaking to The Telegraph, she said: ‘He’s a middle-aged man, he needs to take some responsibility for his actions. It’s clear he has no remorse, he doesn’t understand that HE is responsible.’
The 63-year-old, who is staying in residential care due to his mental health, claimed he had low self-esteem because he didn’t go to Oxford University so felt like an ‘outsider’ at the BBC.
Detailed reports by psychiatrists gave an insight into how the veteran anchorman’s life spiralled out of control and he ended up chatting with a child sex offender over WhatsApp as his marriage to Vicky Flind faltered.
Edwards claimed that his relationship with his famous father marked his life – and led to disgrace decades later.
Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being spared jail on September 16
Edwards held his hands together and steadied himself as the Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring spared him jail earlier this month
One report highlighted how Edwards had been psychologically damaged by his upbringing with a ‘monstrous’ father, and how he felt like an ‘outsider in the BBC’ after failing to get into Oxford or Cambridge university and ended up ‘at Cardiff instead’.
Hywel Teifi Edwards, his Welsh nationalist father who died of cancer in 2010, made his life ‘particularly challenging and probably damaging psychologically’, the court heard.
An insider told MailOnline that Hywel Teifi Edwards was an ‘alpha-male’.
And after reading these opinions and the current under-fire child porn sentencing guidelines, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring allowed Edwards to leave Westminster Magistrates’ Court a free man
Frostrup has previously appeared on and presented BBC series’ such as The Truth About The Menopause and Bringing Up Britain.
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
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
She joins the outpouring of rage and disappointment expressed by the corporation’s staff.
Jon Sopel branded his crimes ‘absolutely abhorrent’ a year after he appeared in the media defending him.
Before the fallen star 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 claim that Edwards 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’.
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.
Edwards made his way through the media melee before being driven away in a black Mercedes when at court on July 31
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, https://hub420.shop/product-tag/sleepy/ 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.’
The ex-newsreader was spared jail after admitting three charges of ‘making’ indecent photographs after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams over WhatsApp.
The 63-year-old sent hundreds of pounds to Williams, who 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. He was also sent two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine-years-old.
He made no comment as he walked into the modern courthouse
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’.
A well-placed source with links to the BBC and ITV has said that the evidence that emerged in court against Edwards is so shocking he will never work again.
‘He is over’, he said, adding: ‘The BBC must be broken up’ due to the way bosses handled the scandal and his suspension.
He said that yet another abuse scandal after Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris is ‘killing its legacy’.
Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April, has been asked to repay the £200,000 salary he has received since his arrest.
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.
Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall said that when she joined the corporation, she was given specific advice about how to handle the disgraced newsreader.
‘You can be funny’, they said. ‘But don’t be funnier than Huw’,’, adding: ‘You can be clever, but don’t be too clever’,’ Ms Razzall revealed.
MailOnline can reveal 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’.
Huw EdwardsBBCOxford University
