The mother of the teenager groomed by Huw Edwards has slammed the upcoming Channel 4 documentary that will reportedly explore the presenter’s ‘side of the story’ after he was sentenced for possessing indecent images of children.
“It’s absolutely disgusting Channel 4 has given a convicted paedophile a platform. I don’t understand what he has to say — or what his side of the story really is.
“Who wants to hear that? And why would they agree to it? Whatever he says there’s no excuse for how he behaved — haven’t we been through enough?” she told The Sun.
View 2 ImagesHuw Edwards was sentenced in 2024
In 2023, Edwards was suspended by the BBC after it was revealed he had groomed a young man, who was 17 when they met, on social media and paid him thousands of pounds for explicit images. Edwards was one of the BBC’s highest-paid newsreaders before he was sacked. He was known for presenting the BBC’s News At Ten for decades, before pleading guilty to making indecent images of children in July 2024.
Now, with the claims of a tell-all programme potentially incoming, an employee has described the idea as “a desperate publicity stunt”, according to The Times.
Previously speaking to The Sun, the stepfather spoke about the black and white headshot image that Edwards shared in December, which some interpreted as an attempt to return to TV. “If he thinks he can just put up a picture of himself and it’s going to change the way people think about him, he’s wrong. He’s scum.
“You can paint over cracks but you can never hide them. He’s finished, he’s a paedophile. Any time he raises his head it is an insult to his victims. He needs to realise this is it and disappear.”
This comes after Channel 5’s dramatisation in March titled Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards aired, but was criticised by the former presenter, who called it a “one-sided account”.
He said after its release: “Other opportunities will arise later this year for me to state my case and to challenge the misleading or fabricated claims made in recent coverage.
“Serious questions still remain to be answered, and not just by me. It will now take some time for me to produce my own account, and until then I do not intend to comment any further.”
In a previous statement, he had slammed the Channel 5 drama, saying at the time: “[They] made no attempt to check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative before going ahead with the production.
“A number of serious questions still remain to be answered, and not just by me. It will now take some time for me to produce my own account, and until then, I do not intend to comment any further.”
After his comments, Channel 5 said the programme was based on “extensive interviews with the victim and his family”. They said court reporting was also used to form it.
The Mirror has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
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