Disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards banned from child contact as part of bail conditions | UK News

Disgraced BBC newsreader Huw Edwards is banned from unsupervised contact with children and talking to youngsters online as he awaits sentencing.

The 62-year-old was granted conditional bail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children between December 2020 and August 2021 last month.

Edwards, who was the BBC’s highest-paid newsreader before he resigned in April, was warned “all options”, including an immediate jail term, would be considered when he is sentenced on 16 September.

According to court records seen by Sky News, Edwards‘s bail conditions also ban him from contacting Alex Williams, a 25-year-old paedophile, from Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, who sparked the investigation into Edwards.

The seizure of his phone revealed the had pair exchanged messages over WhatsApp and that Williams had sent Edwards 377 sexual images, including 41 indecent images of children.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court previously heard seven of the images were of the most serious kind – including two videos of a child believed to have been aged between seven and nine.

Williams was convicted of seven offences relating to indecent images and prohibited images of children and was sentenced to a 12-month suspended prison sentence at Merthyr Crown Court on 15 March.

Edwards, who was one of the BBC’s most recognisable faces as he fronted major events including announcing the death of the Queen to the nation in 2022, was arrested in November last year.

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Bans as part of bail conditions

Edwards’s bail conditions bar him from having any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 unless it is unintentional in the course of his normal life, such as using public transport.

Any contact he does have with children must be supervised by an adult who knows about his offending.

Edwards can’t use any internet-enabled devices which don’t record online history and any devices he does use must be made available to police to inspect on request.

He is also banned from using any web-based or online communication apps to knowingly communicate with anyone under the age of 16.

Row over BBC salary

Edwards was named among the BBC’s highest-paid stars last year despite being off-air since July 2023.

The BBC has asked him to hand back around £200,000 of his salary – the amount earned in the five months after his arrest in November last year.

In a statement last week, the BBC board said Edwards had pleaded guilty to “an appalling crime” and had “clearly undermined trust” in the corporation.

“Had he been upfront when asked by the BBC about his arrest, we would never have continued to pay him public money,” a spokesperson said.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy previously called on Edwards to return his salary.

Since his conviction, organisations have withdrawn awards and fellowships from the veteran broadcaster, including York St John University and the Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama.

A Cardiff University spokesperson said last week that Edwards had resigned from two honorary positions, while BAFTA says it is reviewing individual awards previously handed to him.