Back to the Huw Edwards scandal, where the disgraced ex-BBC presenter is facing more trouble. Last week, the former TV star pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children at Westminster magistrates’ court. Edwards had 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by another man on WhatsApp. At the same time, it emerged that the presenter last year received a £40,000 pay rise despite not working for most of those 12 months. Now it transpires that the Beeb wants its money back.
The public service broadcaster has asked Edwards to return the six-figure salary he was paid after being arrested last November for possessing indecent images of children – the grand total of which amounts to more than £200,000. Crikey. Edwards and the Beeb both came under fire after the BBC’s annual accounts revealed he was the third highest-earning presenter between March 2023 and April 2024 – despite being suspended last summer and formally leaving his post in April 2024. Now, the corporation’s chairman Samir Shah has slammed Edwards for having ‘behaved in bath faith’ by continuing to take the money.
The BBC board said that the broadcaster’s ex-presenter had pleaded guilty to an ‘appalling crime’ and had ‘clearly undermined trust’ in the company, adding: ‘Had he been up front when asked by the BBC about his arrest, we would never have continued to pay him money.’ Yet the board insists that it supported the handling of the case by director general Tim Davie – who confirmed last week that the Beeb had been aware that Edwards had been arrested over the most serious category of indecent images of children. How curious…
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