BBC boss Tim Davie has defended the decision to continue paying Huw Edwards for months after his arrest but confirmed the shamed presenter will not work for the broadcaster again following his ‘appalling’ child-abuse crimes.
Mr Davie claimed the reason Edwards was not sacked upon being arrested was due to BBC guidelines.
‘We wrestled with this – it was an extremely tough decision,’ he said. ‘We decided that, you know, pay continues until somebody’s charged. No one knew that gap was going to be so long.’
He added it was the ‘right decision’ but said the organisation would continue to pursue Edwards to pay back the money paid while he was suspended.
Mr Davie was immediately asked about the Edwards affair during his 25-minute discussion with BBC journalist Amol Rajan at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London conference.
Mr Davie, wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and trainers, said: ‘There’s no doubt that an affair like this impacts our reputation. I think people are smart, and they’ll make their judgments.
‘I think, overall, there’s no doubt about that – these things impact your reputation, but you can maintain trust by doing the right thing.’
Asked if Edwards would work for the BBC again, Mr Davie said: ‘I can’t see that… for obvious reasons.’
Pushed to expand, he added: ‘This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes. It’s pretty straight-forward in my mind – it’s not a difficult question.’
Mr Davie said: ‘The secret life this guy was leading was shocking.’
Edwards avoided jail on Monday after being given a suspended six-month prison sentence for three counts of making indecent images of children. The youngest victim was as young as seven.
The 63-year-old former face of the BBC – who announced Queen Elizabeth’s death to the nation two years ago – gave up to £1,500 to convicted paedophile Alex Williams who sent him dozens of awful images.
The BBC said in a statement that Edwards had betrayed not just the corporation but millions of viewers who had put their trust in him.
Edwards’ offending came to light after South Wales police seized Williams’ phone and discovered his WhatsApp conversations with the former BBC anchorman.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year. The investigation was unrelated to allegations reported in July 2023 that Edwards had paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexual images.
He was also ordered to pay £3,000 in prosecution costs. It remains unclear whether he will have to pay back the £200,000 he was paid by the BBC between his arrest and his resignation in April.
Corporation director general Mr Davie confirmed that a formal request for the money to be returned has been made to Edwards, who was in a pay bracket of between £475,000 and £479,999 for 2023/24.
Mr Davie told the conference: ‘We want the money back and we’ve asked for it back, and we’re waiting to hear back.
‘There are discussions between the legal teams.’
Mr Davie said that victims’ families are the ‘primary concern’ and said that young people who raised concerns over Edwards were ‘taken seriously’ at the time allegations were made.
He said: ‘We’re just shocked, and there’s a lot of upset because across the BBC, we’ve got great teams, good people and they feel deeply, deeply let down.’