Huw Edwards appeared ‘confident’ and showed ‘bravado’ as he walked out of court yesterday after pleading guilty to a string of child porn offences, a body language expert has claimed.
The fallen BBC star, 62, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday wearing dark sunglasses and a navy suit – seemingly unbothered by the dozens of cameras surrounding him.
The veteran news reader kept seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by another paedophile. He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14.
Body expert Judi James said that Edwards kept ‘his chin raised’ as he left the court ‘in a gesture of what looks like enduring star status and resilience or defiance following his appearance in court’.
She said: ‘This is not a man who looks keen to act out any non-verbal signals of humility or shame in these clips.
Huw Edwards appeared ‘confident’ and showed ‘bravado’ as he walked out of court yesterday after pleading guilty to a string of child porn offences, according to a body language expert
Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London yesterday surrounded by a police escort
Body expert Judi James said that Edwards kept ‘his chin raised’ as he left the court ‘in a gesture of what looks like enduring star status’
‘There is no head-bowing or head-covering here or any cut-off or barrier rituals, like holding a hand to the head to hide the face. In fact, the opposite.
‘He looks determined to take on the cameras, turning from one side to the other as he walks slowly past them and even raising his head to show his face to the cameras being held high by the photographers at the back of the pack.’
At another moment outside the court, Edwards used a ‘hand gesture normally associated with status,’ Ms James said, placing his hands in a flattened clasp across hi waist.
His stride out of court appeared ‘confident’ with his ‘head held high’, the body language expert explained, before he was slowed by the press around him.
As he chose to wear sunglasses, his eye expression was concealed meaning that a ‘more complex and authentic emotional display’ is not available as ‘Edwards [was] keeping his inner emotions guarded’.
She added: ‘His upright posture suggests levels of confidence or bravado and there is no raising or hunching of the shoulders to suggest any inner desire to hide. His chest looks relatively splayed or puffed which also projects confidence.
‘He performs a mouth shrug at one point, pulling the corners of his clamped lips down in a wry smile.
‘His ‘thank you’ and nod to a policewoman sounds authoritative and firm, as though there is no erosion of his star status in his mind and a following ‘thank you very much’ gives the same impression of firm, polite authority.’
Edwards remained silent as he left the court building surrounded by the press today
A court sketch showed Edwards standing in the dock after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
Last night, in a shocking revelation, the BBC admitted they knew Edwards had been arrested on ‘suspicion of serious offences’ last November, but kept paying his £479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest ‘secret’ from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail today.
The father-of-five moved out of the family home in Dulwich after separating from his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind.
It comes amid questions over why the CPS waited weeks to confirm charges against the presenter.
The ex-News at Ten presenter was charged in June, but the details were only revealed on Monday, after the date of his first court appearance was released by Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
A former attorney general said last night it was ‘very puzzling’ that the CPS did not publish details of the charges brought against Edwards around the time he was charged.
He added that the CPS’s actions did not seem ‘in accordance with’ the principles of open justice, The Telegraph first reported.
Friends of the ex-BBC News host said he kept his arrest ‘a secret’ and that they were stunned when news he had been charged was revealed this week
Edwards has since left the family home and has reportedly split with his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind (the pair are pictured together in 2018 in London)
The CPS denied it had purposely suppressed details about the presenter being charged or given him preferential treatment.
A CPS spokesperson 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.’
The paedophile was only uncovered after Welsh detectives investigating another sex offender uncovered the BBC’s stars number in a depraved WhatsApp chat.
Detectives stumbled onto the household-named star while investigating another paedophile, 25-year-old Alex Williams from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
When officers from South Wales Police seized Williams’ phone, they uncovered a vile WhatsApp chat full of child pornography – which Edwards was involved in.
A Met spokesman said: ‘The investigation into Huw Edwards began in November 2023 after information was received from South Wales Police.
‘An examination of a phone seized by South Wales officers as part of an entirely unrelated investigation had revealed Edwards’ participation in a WhatsApp conversation.
‘There was no connection between this investigation and the matters reviewed in July 2023.
‘One other person was charged in relation to the messages shared via WhatsApp.
‘He is Alex Williams, 25, of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Williams pleaded guilty to seven offences following an investigation by South Wales Police.’
Edwards was arrested on November 8, 2023 before being charged on June 26 with three counts of making indecent images.
Seven of the pictures were category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind. This included two moving images of a young boy, possibly aged between seven and nine years old.
He also had photos of other children aged between 13 and 15 stored on his phone that were classed as Category A.
Edwards, whose marriage and journalistic career have now been destroyed, will find out his fate during a sentencing hearing in September. He could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
