Teen groomed by 'evil' Huw Edwards called BBC star while he was live on TV to 'prove a point' after revealing who was sending him vile messages and his appalled parents 'didn't believe him' By Emily Jane Davies Published: 21:07, 16 September 2024 | Updated: 21:44, 16 September 2024 e-mail 2 View comments The teenager groomed by 'evil' Huw Edwards called the BBC star while he was live on TV to 'prove a point' after revealing who was sending him vile messages because his appalled parents 'didn't believe' it could be the national treasure. The 63-year-old Welshman was spared jail today, sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years after admitting three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. He was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams over WhatsApp, describing indecent photos of young men as 'amazing' and encouraging him to 'go on '.
The family of a young man who Edwards paid in return for sexually explicit pictures - which is separate from the offences for which he was sentenced - told The Sun of how they discovered the newsreader was responsible for the vast sums of money. Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court ahead of his sentencing hearing today Edwards has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years Edwards was previously the anchor of BBC News at Ten and he was one of Britain's most prominent newsreaders The teenager who was paid £35,000 by Edwards was 17 at the time and is now 21. He allegedly was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement and said he felt 'groomed' by the disgraced presenter.
The young man, who actively defended Edwards at the time, later claimed he was in a 'troubled state of mind' when he first reached out to the ex News at Ten anchor. Read More EXCLUSIVE Did Huw Edwards' celebrity status keep him out of jail? How the disgraced BBC journalist DODGED jail It all came crashing down when the then teenager's mother found the messages between the pair for a rendezvous at Cardiff train station. Texts would seesaw drastically from love hearts and kisses, calling the teenager a 'good boy' and saying 'hey beautiful,' to aggressive swearing such as 'You are an ungrateful f***.
You f****g disaster' and asking him: 'You think my life revolves around you? Get f*****g real.' Other messages included 'you've disappointed me. I regret helping you so much' and a chilling Instagram direct message telling the boy: 'I'm with my family stop being a pain'.
The young man's mother and stepfather were worried about their previously 'happy' boy when he would act so differently to his normal demeanour it was like he had a 'twin'. The police mugshot released today after he was given a suspended sentence A mocked up version of a reported Instagram message exchange between the BBC star and the teenager Edwards, who was born in Bridgend and brought up in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, joined the BBC as a trainee in 1984. Pictured on the six o'clock news in 1999 They told The Sun's documentary 'Huw Edwards: Unmasked' that he would buy clothing and stay out all night partying when he had no money that they knew of.
But they became aware of bank transfers of up to £2,000 at a time and asked his cousin if he knew where the cash was coming from. Read More EXCLUSIVE Fury at the BBC as Huw Edwards avoids jail: Ex-colleagues condemn shamed newsreader To his mother's horror, he said it was an 'old man with grey hair'. She told The Sun: 'I couldn't believe it.
A grey haired man was sending money to my 17-year-old-son - I felt sick.' When they asked the teenager directly, he confessed it was the BBC's Number One golden boy Huw Edwards - a fellow Welshman. His stepfather admitted to The Sun his disbelief that this national treasure could be responsible.
' He said it was Huw and we didn't believe him - I didn't believe him. I knew he was getting the money from somewhere but I didn't believe it was a BBC news reader.' He described how the boy tried to prove it by phoning Edwards as he was live on air, and his parents could see his reaction to what seemed to be his phone ringing in his pocket.
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court today Alex Williams, 25, shared indecent images with Huw Edwards that led to the newsreader's downfall. Williams is pictured here as a teenager on a family trip to a Welsh beauty spot And when the mother went through the text messages, Edwards' name came up repeatedly. When they saw their son arranged to meet Edwards at the station, the stepfather followed and filmed the newsreader.
Read More Huw Edwards should be jailed later today, says mother of teen who sent him lewd photos After seeing and filming him at the station, the furious stepfather then attempted to make an official complaint to the BBC nearby regional office where he was given a number to call BBC London instead. He claims this number did not work but eventually the family managed to get in touch with the BBC's Audience Service who sent the case to the organisation's Corporate Investigations team. The family then went to The Sun who broke the shocking claim that Edwards had paid for explicit photos.
The teenager's angry stepfather today accused the BBC of classism and said it's like they spoke an entirely different language. 'I think they look at us as if we're lower class. That's it.
We're just a lower class, we're not educated but you don't have to be educated to know the difference between right and wrong. It's simple,' he said in condemnation. In July, Edwards admitted three charges of 'making' indecent photographs after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams over WhatsApp Westminster Magistrates' Court heard on Monday how Huw Edwards had replied 'yes xxx' when asked if he wanted a set of indecent images of children by Alex Williams (note: This is not the actual text message exchange) It was also told that Edwards had told Williams that ages 'can be deceptive' when told one of the subjects in an image was 'quite yng looking', before asking if he had 'any more? (note: This is not the actual text message exchange) One of the messages from Edwards were shown in the documentary to be a photo of his desk at the BBC, to which the mother said 'he clearly didn't care'.
She told The Sun: 'I liked that man, he was always my favourite on TV. He was Welsh, like us. I would hear my son on the phone to him and hear an evil man talking.
The next day I would see him presenting the news on TV and I'd see evil.' Read More Family of young person at the centre of Huw Edwards BBC scandal vow 'this is not the end' as they declare they will keep fighting for answers One disturbing clip in the documentary shows Edwards on an episode of Would I Lie To You in which he joked: 'You should know that I'm programmed by the BBC to tell the truth.' The documentary also alleges that Alex Williams reached out to other celebrities via Telegram - but Edwards was the only one to respond.
The teenager's mother said he asked her if she thought he was the only boy Edwards was messaging and paying for indecent images and she said 'no love, there will be others'. But when the extent of the charges against the fallen star were revealed, she was horrified. Edwards made his way through the media melee before being driven away in a black Mercedes when attending court in July Edwards is seen on screen for what would be the last time before the scandal became public, when he covered King Charles' visit to Scotland She said she wept when she heard there was an image of a seven-year-old boy in the vile collection.
Edwards was seen for the last time on the BBC as he covered King Charles' visit to Scotland on July 5, 2023, two days before the article about the 'un-named presenter' came out. There was a frenzy of speculation about the identity of the star. Gary Lineker, Jeremy Vine, Rylan Clark and Nicky Campbell all feel obliged to deny that they were the man in question, and eventually Edwards' wife confirmed it was him.
He resigned from the BBC in disgrace in April this year, but in June he was charged with possession of indecent images of children. He was sentenced today. There has been criticism in some quarters over the decision not to hand Edwards a prison sentence when many people involved in recent far-right rioting had been jailed.
The court was taken through details of Edwards's mental health history, with reference made to one report by a consultant psychiatrist and neuropsychiatrist that recorded Edwards took two months of sick leave 'following an anonymous denunciation' in 2018. The disgraced BBC News star's remorse and prison overcrowding could also have been considerations that counted in his favour. He stepped down just a few days after The BBC's annual report revealed Edwards was paid between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24 for 160 presenting days, BBC One news specials, election specials and other television programming .
This salary marked an increase from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and £439,999 for 180 days presenting on BBC One, as well as news specials. Huw Edwards shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II during a royal visit to BBC Studios in London in June 2013 This was despite him being absent from screens from when the story first broke in July last year until his exit nine months later in April 2024. But he stayed on the payroll while suspended, which is normal BBC policy, and was suffering from serious mental health issues and received in-patient hospital care.
But in August, the BBC asked him to hand back the £200,000 salary he earned after being arrested . The corporation knew the presenter had been arrested last November but continued to pay his salary until he resigned on medical advice this April. A BBC spokesperson said after its former broadcaster was sentenced: 'We are appalled by his crimes.
He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.' Huw Edwards BBC Share or comment on this article: Teen groomed by 'evil' Huw Edwards called BBC star while he was live on TV to 'prove a point' after revealing who was sending him vile messages and his appalled parents 'didn't believe him' e-mail Add comment.
