Wife of Huw Edwards names him as BBC presenter at centre of ...

Huw Edwards has been named as the BBC presenter suspended over allegations he paid for explicit images, in the wake of a media scandal that has rocked the national broadcaster and left him in hospital.

The episode has left one of British television’s most famous faces “suffering from serious mental health issues” and “receiving inpatient hospital care, where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future”, his wife said in a statement on Wednesday.

Vicky Flind confirmed her husband was the man in question after rumours swirled on social media for five days. Her comments came shortly after two police forces said there was no evidence Edwards committed a criminal offence.

Flind said the allegations “greatly worsened matters” for Edwards, who has suffered from severe depression in recent years. She added that he will respond to the allegations when well enough, adding he is “deeply sorry” that colleagues had been dragged into the story.

The Sun alleged in a front page story that the presenter paid a young person, now 20, for photos. The tabloid suggested this started when the individual was 17 – a potentially serious criminal offence. Officers at Scotland Yard have now concluded there is no evidence to support this allegation, leaving the Sun is facing questions about its reporting. South Wales police also believes there is no criminal case to answer.

The young person’s lawyer allegedly told the Sun last week that the story was “rubbish” and no illegal activity took place, although the tabloid did not publish this denial until Monday night.

On Wednesday night, the Sun denied its story ever alleged criminality had taken place, saying: “Suggestions about possible criminality were first made at a later date by other media outlets, including the BBC”. It added that it would “will cooperate with the BBC’s internal investigation process” into the issue and provide “a confidential and redacted dossier containing serious and wide-ranging allegations … including some from BBC personnel”.

In a sign of the chaos engulfing the corporation, the BBC’s Six O’Clock News wrongly reported that Edwards had resigned before issuing a correction. There was initial speculation that further allegations against the presenter could soon be made, while the BBC will now resume its internal inquiry into Edwards’s conduct. However, the Sun later said it will not publish any more claims against the presenter.

Leading BBC journalists and former colleagues rallied around Edwards after he was named. John Simpson wrote: “I feel so sorry for everyone involved in this: for the Edwards family, for the complainants, and for Huw himself. No criminal offences were committed, so it’s a purely personal tragedy for everyone involved. Let’s hope the press leave them all alone now.”

Broadcaster Jon Sopel, the BBC’s former North America editor, described the situation as “awful and shocking” and hit out at some of the reaction to this story. He said Edwards was not guilty of any criminality but had “perhaps a complicated private life” which no longer felt “very private”.

The Sun’s initial story prompted further anonymous allegations against Edwards in the media. On Tuesday, the BBC reported that a person in their early 20s was contacted by the presenter on a dating app and pressured to meet up, but never did. When the young person hinted online that they might name the presenter, they were allegedly sent abusive messages. The Sun also alleged that the presenter broke Covid lockdown rules to meet a 23-year-old, who he had met on a dating site.

Flind, who has five children with Edwards, said in a statement: “In light of the recent reporting regarding the ‘BBC presenter’ I am making this statement on behalf of my husband, Huw Edwards, after what have been five extremely difficult days for our family. I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental wellbeing and to protect our children.

“Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years. The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving inpatient hospital care, where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.

“Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published. To be clear Huw was first told that there were allegations being made against him last Thursday.

“In the circumstances and given Huw’s condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected. I know that Huw is deeply sorry that so many colleagues have been impacted by the recent media speculation. We hope this statement will bring that to an end.”

Edwards used his Twitter account to like a tweet suggesting the Sun could now “face the mother of all libel actions”. Edwards, one of the best-known faces on British television, is among the BBC’s most highly-paid staff. He earns £435,000 a year for hosting the News at Ten, as well as the BBC’s election night and royal coverage.

The Sun’s story five days ago unleashed widespread speculation on social media and forced several BBC broadcasters including Jeremy Vine, Nicky Campbell and Gary Lineker to state publicly it was not them. On Tuesday, Vine urged the presenter to “come forward”.

The BBC met with Metropolitan police detectives on Monday lunchtime. By Wednesday a police spokesperson said officers had found no case to answer.

They said: “Detectives from the Met’s specialist crime command have now concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed.

“In reaching this decision, they have spoken to a number of parties including the BBC and the alleged complainant and the alleged complainant’s family, both via another police force. There is no further police action. As such, the Met has advised the BBC it can continue with its internal investigation.

“We are aware of media reporting of further allegations against the same individual. No specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time. Should evidence of criminality or safeguarding issues be identified at any point we would expect matters to be referred to the relevant police force.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We have seen the statement from the police confirming they have completed their assessment and are not taking further action. We’re grateful to them for completing this work at speed. The police had previously asked us to pause our fact-finding investigations and we will now move forward with that work, ensuring due process and a thorough assessment of the facts, whilst continuing to be mindful of our duty of care to all involved.”

Prior to Wednesday’s developments a spokesperson from the Sun emphasised that they were giving a voice to the parents’ allegations. They said : “We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child. Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC. We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.”

The young person’s family first attempted to complain about Edwards’ alleged behaviour by walking into a BBC office in May. They then called the BBC’s complaints line – usually used by members of the public unhappy with what they have watched on screen.

The corporation’s director general Tim Davie said on Tuesday that this initial complaint was then passed to the BBC’s internal investigations team, which concluded it was worth pursuing.

A spokesperson for the Sun said: “The allegations published by The Sun were always very serious. Further serious allegations have emerged in the past few days.

“It is right that the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team continues to investigate these thoroughly and deals with them in the way that they think is appropriate.

“The Sun will cooperate with the BBC’s internal investigation process. We will provide the BBC team with a confidential and redacted dossier containing serious and wide-ranging allegations which we have received, including some from BBC personnel.

“The Sun has no plans to publish further allegations.

“We must also re-emphasise that The Sun at no point in our original story alleged criminality and also took the decision neither to name Mr Edwards nor the young person involved in the allegations.

“Suggestions about possible criminality were first made at a later date by other media outlets, including the BBC.

“From the outset, we have reported a story about two very concerned and frustrated parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and payments from him that fuelled the drug habit of a young person.

“We reported that the parents had already been to the police who said that they couldn’t help.

“The parents then made a complaint to the BBC which was not acted upon. It is now for the BBC to properly investigate.”