After Wednesday’s news that BBC veteran Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, the Beeb is facing a period of reckoning. And the institution is very much under the spotlight after it transpired last night that despite knowing Edwards had been arrested last November, it employed him on his top salary for five more months. Crikey.
The broadcaster’s star newsreader was paid a whopping £480,000 between March 2023 and April 2024, according to the BBC’s annual accounts. Yet on Wednesday evening, the Beeb admitted it had been ‘made aware in confidence’ that the former News at Ten presenter had been ‘arrested on suspicion of serious offences’. Edwards had been suspended last summer over sex scandal allegations before the police became involved some months later, and the Welsh journalist resigned in April 2024 before being charged in June. For its part, the BBC claimed that had Edwards not resigned before he was charged by police it would have acted ‘immediately… [to] dismiss him’. However a report has found there is a need for the corporation’s complaints processing system to be improved – and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is expected to meet with broadcasting bosses imminently. Oo er.
But it’s not just the BBC under scrutiny. Questions are also being asked of the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard over the handling of the ex-presenter’s case. Despite Edwards being charged in June, the news only broke this week – after his court appearance date was released to the media. And as reported in the Mail today, when the newspaper approached the Met police about updates in Edwards’ case, it was informed that there were none – despite the former TV star being arrested last year. The CPS insisted its dealing with this case followed ‘normal working procedures’ while Scotland Yard said it could not respond to inquiries about a named person before charge. It’s all rather curious…
So will the Beeb now try and retrieve some of the £40,000 pay rise Edwards received last year? Watch this space…
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