Huw Edwards Behind the Cameras
The Sun
With more than 100 stories published, our investigation culminated in revealing the BBC's lead presenter for News at Ten had been charged over child abuse videos in July 2024.
Our forensic probe into Edwards’ activities began in Spring 2023 after calls to the newsdesk exposed his “predatory” online behaviour.
However, after being contacted by a man who revealed Edwards had been sending his teenage stepson money in exchange for sexual images we found public interest. They provided documentary evidence and we conducted interviews with the primary witnesses.
The family revealed they had revealed their concerns in a detailed complaint to the BBC but had been ignored - a huge failure of the public service broadcaster.
This story was the subject of significant scrutiny pre-publication and understanding the sensitivity of the story, the paper decided the protection of the family was paramount, and so would not name any of those involved, nor give any detail which may identify them, including gender. In itself, maintaining this anonymity made the amount of evidence which could be published more challenging.
Ahead of publishing the paper received legal letters from Edwards and the BBC quietly took Edwards. After running the original story, dozens more called the newsdesk about his behaviour, including examples of an abuse of power and position, as well as harassment towards BBC colleagues.
Edwards was eventually named by his wife, revealing he was suffering with mental health issues. Despite pressure and campaigning which sought to misrepresent the reporting, using selective extracts, The Sun stood by its story but halted all reporting in light of mental health. Again providing more challenges.
During its fearless and meticulous reporting, The Sun had amassed a dossier which was handed over to the BBC to investigate. This included evidence of payments, pressurising a young BBC staff member to join him in his room during Prince Philip's funeral, breaking lockdown rules, and the grooming of young people over social media. This year saw our investigation resulted in a BBC apology to the parents whose complaint about Edwards had been ignored; the resignation of Edwards following an internal probe; and new staff guidelines being issued by the broadcaster. The young person at the centre of our story confirmed the accuracy saying he had been "groomed" by Edwards.
The investigation continued up to Monday, July 29, when we revealed Edwards had been charged with indecent images. The Sun was only able to break this thanks to its vigilant communication with the Met Police - ensuring the paper was the first to know about the charge, then going on to confirm the fact with the CPS.
Media commentators said there is a strong argument that the Sun's diligent, responsible journalism over the past year made sense of the eventual charge of the most trusted face in the country, establishing a pattern of behaviour. The public interest was overwhelming.