Huw Edwards’ wife Vicky Flind has been supported by MPs and presenters after she released a statement on behalf of her husband.
Vicky named her husband as the unnamed man accused of allegedly paying a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures.
She named her husband as the man at the centre of the allegations in a statement issued on his behalf and said he is receiving in-patient hospital care after suffering a severe mental health episode.
In the statement, she said: ‘I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children.’
Following the confirmation of the identity of the accused presenter, MPs and presenters rushed to social media to throw their support behind Vicky as she stood by her husband.
Labour MP Jess Phillips posted: ‘Just coming on here to say that Vicky Flind is by some distance one of the nicest, kindest and most decent women I’ve had the privilege to work with.’
‘I used to work with Vicky Flind when I was a political producer for the Nine O’Clock News,’ former BBC reporter Robert Rea tweeted.
‘She is a lovely human being who – whatever your view about the rest of this sordid saga – truly does not deserve to be in the position she finds herself in. Thoughts and prayers with her.’
ITV’s Peston presenter Robert Peston posted a lengthy tribute in support of Vicky – who is the editor of the show.
‘As a journalist, I have spent more or less my entire career weighing up stories by whether they are truly in the public interest or just interesting to the public.
‘This has been on my mind a lot, following the allegations in the Sun newspaper about a BBC presenter and a young person, and a relationship between them that their parents alleged was harmful and possibly illegal,’ he said.
‘None of this is to minimise complaints that have been made against Huw – or to ignore the suggestion that people and their families may have been hurt. I don’t know exactly what he did, or why.’
He concluded: ‘The question however is whether – if it remains clear as the police say no crime was committed – there was a public interest in publishing the original story and in the subsequent coverage. Though at this point Vicky would tell me to get on with the show. So we will.’
The claims originally reported by The Sun were made by the young person’s family and were later denied by a lawyer presenting the young person in question.
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command have now concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed.
