Edwards charges not publicised because of fears over his ‘mental health’ (2024)

The decision to charge Huw Edwards with child sex offences was not publicised by the police or prosecutors amid concerns over his mental health, The Telegraph understands.

Theformer BBC presenter was arrested in November 2023 on suspicion of receiving indecent images of children as part of a WhatsApp exchange with a 25-year-old convicted paedophile and was charged on June 26 2024.

Edwards pleaded guilty to possessing seven category A images, 12 category B images and 22 category C images of children in his first appearance in front of a court, at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday.

He isdue to be sentenced on Sept 16.

But despite the huge public interest in the case, details of the charges and his pending magistrates’ court appearance were not made public at the time, as would be normal practice.

Instead, news of the case only emerged on Monday when a media organisation spotted that he was due toappear at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday and demanded details from Scotland Yard.

Both the Met and Crown Prosecution Service have denied suppressing information or giving Edwards preferential treatment but one former attorney general has questioned the decision not to release the information earlier.

Sources have now told The Telegraph concern over Edwards’ vulnerability and mental health played a part in the decision to withhold information until the last minute.

The source, with knowledge of the case, said: “In a situation like this, where there is so much public interest, it would be standard practice for the police or CPS to inform the public as soon as the person was charged.

“But concern over Edwards’ mental health was certainly a factor in deciding not to release all the details immediately. The intention was to release details of the charges the day before he was due in court.

“This was not an attempt to cover it up but simply to manage the inevitable frenzy that would follow the news being made public. The important thing was that justice was seen to be done.”

The decision not to publicise that Edwards had been charged is understood to have raised eyebrows among some of those who worked on the case, who feel it is out of sync with normal practice.

Stephen Parkinson, the head of the CPS as director of public prosecutions, took up the post in October 2023 and is now expected to face pressure to explain why the prosecutors took the approach they did in Edwards’ case.

Edwards’ mental health struggles had been well publicised after he was suspended by the BBC in July 2023 when it emerged that he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a young man.

His wife revealed that he was being treated for serious mental health issues in hospital and, in April 2024, he resigned from thebroadcaster on “medical advice”.

In 2022Caroline Flack, the TV presenter, took her own life after she was charged with assaulting her boyfriend.

The police and CPS came under fire at the time for pursuing the case after Flack’s boyfriend said he did not support the prosecution.

The CPS has already faced criticism for breaching “open justice” principles.

One former attorney general told The Telegraph: “It is very puzzling that the CPS did not release the charge details to the media. Normally, with high-profile cases, an announcement is made that charges have been brought.

“This notifies members of the media that a first court appearance is imminent to allow them to report on it, in accordance with the principles of open justice.

“I’m therefore puzzled that the CPS did not announce charges when they were brought in June, as at that point it became a public matter.”

In a statement issued earlier this week, the CPS denied it had deliberately suppressed details about Edwards being charged or given him preferential treatment.

A CPS spokesman said: “Decisions on charging announcements are based on operational factors and no defendant receives preferential treatment.

“Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues.”

Scotland Yard also denied it had taken a different approach in informing the media in the case of Edwards.

A spokesman said: “The approach taken in this case isn’t unusual. Quite often when there is a lengthy gap between the date someone is charged and their first appearance we will publish the details immediately before the first appearance.

“The purpose of us releasing the details is to allow [the] media to cover the court proceedings so providing it is prior to that date we have met that requirement.”

Related Topics

• BBC,
• Westminster,
• Crown Prosecution Service,
• Children,
• Central London,
• Caroline Flack