I'M GUILTY

Emotionless ex-BBC star, 62, admits making 41 indecent images of children

- Paul Jeeves

SHAMED ex-BBC newsreader Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to making 41 indecent images of children - including a video of a victim as young as seven being abused.

The presenter, who was once the corporation's third highest-paid star, admitted three charges yesterday, just months after bosses handed him a £40,000 pay rise while he was suspended from his News at Ten flagship role.

That put married dad-of-five Edwards, 62, on nearly £500,000 a year despite being arrested last November after police found hundreds of sexual pictures on his phone.

They included horrific moving images of pre-pubescent children being abused that he had received in a WhatsApp chat with a convicted paedophile. The pictures came to light during an unrelated investigation by South Wales Police into Alex Williams, 25.

Edwards' case was handed over to the Metropolitan Police who arrested the veteran TV presenter. The BBC yesterday confirmed it knew he had been arrested for "serious offences" and was under investigation in November. He stayed on full pay, then resigned in April on "medical advice"."

Westminster Magistrates Court heard yesterday Edwards was involved in an exchange with Williams between December 2020 and August 2021. He received 377 sexual images of which 41 were illegal pictures of children - the bulk were sent in a two-month period.

On February 2, 2021 Williams asked if the material he was sending was too young and Edwards replied, telling him not to send any under-age images, the court heard.

But police found seven category A images, the very worst kind, on Edwards' phone plus 12 category B and 22 category C ones. The estimated ages of most of the children in the A images were 13 to 15 - but one of the victims pictured was as young as between seven and nine, the court was told.