Shamed BBC presenter Huw Edwards may be stripped of his peer-voted Bafta awards as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts “reviews” the situation.
The former News at Ten presenter, 62, last week admitted having indecent images of children and the corporation said it was aware he was arrested on “suspicion of serious offences” in November.Edwards’ sentencing is due on September 16.
He is facing a possible jail sentence after pleading guilty at Westminster magistrates court to three criminal charges relating to 41 illegal images of a child found on a WhatsApp chat.
Bafta said it was reviewing awards given to Edwards, who was the BBC’s highest-paid newsreader before he resigned in April.
A Bafta spokesperson said: “Like everyone in the industry and country we were shocked by the news this week – given the seriousness of this abhorrent crime, we are reviewing.”
Bafta said the awards in review are historic peer-voted awards.
Edwards has received a string of Bafta awards over the course of almost three decades presenting the BBC’s flagship evening news programming, including seven awards recognising his presenting skills from its Welsh branch, Bafta Cymru.
One of these was for presenting a 2017 documentary on the 1966 Aberfan disaster and another for The Story of Wales in 2013, the Independent reported.
Edwards was also part of the BBC teams that won Bafta awards for coverage of Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton in 2011, the Madrid bombings in 2004, and the London bombings in 2005.
Following his guilty plea a mural of Edwards in his home town of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, was painted over by artist Steve Jenkins, who described it as “such a bitter pill to swallow”.
Meanwhile Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup an estimated £200,000 which Edwards earned in the period from his arrest in November until his resignation five months later.
Before Edwards resigned on medical advice in April, he was the broadcaster’s highest-paid newsreader, with a pay bracket between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC’s latest annual report.
