Ex-BBC presenter avoids jail over indecent child images

Former British TV news presenter Huw Edwards has been given a suspended sentence after admitting to making indecent images of children.

The long-time face of the BBC's flagship news program, Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty in July to three charges of making indecent images of children.

The charges related to 41 illegal images he was sent via WhatsApp, including two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine years old.

Seven of the illegal images were of the most serious category, prosecutor Ian Hope said, adding that the two videos were marked as "read" on WhatsApp.

In response to the second video, Edwards asked the man sending them: "Any more?"

At a London court hearing, Judge Paul Goldspring sentenced Edwards to six months in prison suspended for two years, meaning Edwards will not go to jail unless he commits another criminal offence in that time.

The offence of making indecent images of children relates to the images that were sent to Edwards. Prosecutors did not allege Edwards had literally made the images in question.

Edwards' lawyer Philip Evans apologised on behalf of the former television presenter.

"He wishes the court, through me, to know how profoundly sorry he is. He recognises the repugnant nature of such indecent images and the hurt that is done to those who appear in such images."