Former ‘face of the BBC’, Huw Edwards has appeared at Westminster Crown Court to plead guilty to possessing indecent images of children.
Wearing dark sunglasses and a suit, Edwards arrived at court flanked by police officers, to a maelstrom of reporters and protesters.
As police instructed the crowd to step back, an onlooker shouted: “We know you’re a Christian Mr Edwards, we pray you repent.”
Following the remark, the former presenter could be seen raising his eyebrows.
Edwards admitted to possessing 41 indecent images of children, which he claims were sent to him via Whatsapp from another man.
A total of 337 sexual images had been shared between the men
Seven of the images were category A, 12 were category B pictures, and 22 category C.
The court heart that the category A images - the most serious kind - were mostly of children aged 13 to 15.
Prosecutors told the court that there were two moving images of a young child, estimated to be between seven and nine years old. It was the final image Edwards received, and was sent in August 2021.
The man told Edwards the boy looked young, and that he had more illegal images.
He asked whether the images he was sending were ‘too young’, to which Edwards responded saying that he did not want to receive anything illegal.
No more were sent, although the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
Edwards' defence lawyer, Philip Evans KC, told the court there was no suggestion that the former newsreader had created any of the images himself.
He said: “Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else, and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else.”
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the term "making" includes opening, accessing, downloading and storing content, or receiving an image via social media - even if unsolicited.
A spokesperson for the NSPCC told Sky News: "Online child sexual abuse offences can have a devastating impact on victims and we should be in no doubt about the seriousness of Edwards' crimes."