The former BBC newsreader arrived at the court on Wednesday morning wearing a dark blue suit and sunglasses.
With a neutral expression, he was assisted by police through the crowd of photographers and onlookers holding placards as he entered the courtroom.
Edwards, who left the BBC on medical advice in 2023, has been charged with making indecent images of children, specifically 37 photographs found on WhatsApp: six category A images, 12 category B images, and 19 category C images, with category A being the most serious. The 62-year-old was arrested in November 2023 and formally charged on June 26. It has been reported that he has since separated from his wife, Vicky Flind, though they have not divorced and are living apart.
Following the initial report from The Sun, which claimed that Edwards had been paying a teenager for photos, Vicky Flind released a statement to the press: “In light of the recent reporting regarding the ‘BBC presenter’ I am making this statement on behalf of my husband Huw Edwards, after what have been five extremely difficult days for our family. I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children.
“Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years. The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.”
The young person involved denied the story via his lawyers, telling The Guardian: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are rubbish.”
According to the CPS, ‘making indecent images of children’ includes activities such as opening, accessing, downloading, or storing content, or receiving an image via social media, even if unsolicited or part of a group.
