Huw Edwards: Ex-BBC newsreader asked to return more than £200k salary after child abuse image charges

In a letter to staff, BBC Chair Samir Shah stated that Edwards had "behaved in bad faith" by accepting his salary despite knowing he intended to plead guilty to the offences.

Edwards, once one of the BBC's most prominent newsreaders, continued to receive his salary for five months following his arrest on three counts of making indecent images of children. During this period, he was paid over £200,000. Despite being suspended in July last year and arrested four months later, Edwards did not resign from the BBC until April this year.

The BBC has not confirmed whether it will pursue legal action if Edwards refuses to return the salary. Last week, Director General Tim Davie revealed in an interview that the corporation was aware of Edwards' arrest in November, involving the most serious category of indecent images of children.

In a statement, the BBC Board expressed support for the decisions made by the Director General and his team during this time, adding that if Edwards had been forthcoming about his arrest, "we would never have continued to pay him public money." The Board further criticised Edwards, saying that he had "clearly undermined the trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute."

The note to staff said: “On the face of it, he was a much-admired broadcaster with whom the BBC had entrusted the responsibility of anchoring its flagship news programme and presiding over national events but he betrayed the trust of staff and our audiences in the most egregious possible way.

“Let me be clear: the villain of this piece is Huw Edwards; the victims are those children for whose degradation Huw Edwards provided a market for.”

The note continued: “Whilst I was not chair when the BBC was first alerted to Mr Edwards’ behaviour and the consequent actions taken, I – and the board – have now had detailed accounts from BBC executives about what happened.

“The executive had to navigate a very difficult and complex situation on two fronts: the complaints made by colleagues and others and, separately, the police investigation into Mr Edwards’ criminal behaviour. In the light of what was known at the time, the decisions taken by the director-general and his team following Mr Edwards’ arrest were well considered and reasonable.

“Of course hindsight can always suggest alternative actions, but unfortunately, hindsight was not available at the time. It was a balancing of considerations and an evaluation of the known facts that determined the course of action.”

Edwards pleaded guilty in July to three counts of making indecent images of children, offences that allegedly occurred between 2020 and 2022. The charges relate to 37 images shared in a WhatsApp chat, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Between April 2023 and April 2024, Edwards received a salary between £475,000 and £479,999, an increase of £40,000 from the previous year. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has also called on Edwards to return the £200,000 he received during the period in question.