Huw Edwards' wife Vicky Flind decided to whistleblow in a bid to ‘protect’ their children

Huw Edwards wife of 31 years decided to publicly out him after it was reported that an unnamed BBC star had accessed illegal material. The 62-year-old Welsh journalist is set to return to court today for sentencing following a guilty plea to a number of child sex offence charges.

Back in July 2023 The Sun reported that a mother claimed an unnamed BBC presenter paid their child tens of thousands of pounds for explicit photos. Nobody was named in the article but it sparked several days of frenzied speculation.

Just days later, Vicky decided to formally announce in a statement that he was the person in question. At the time she shared that Huw was “suffering from serious mental health issues" and receiving in-patient hospital care.

She made the decision to go public “primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children.” Following both a police and internal BBC investigation a year later, The Metropolitan police confirmed they had arrested Huw and charged him.

The couple, who share five children - three sons and two daughters, have separated since the story came to light. And Vicky did not support him at his court hearing earlier this year, he walked in alone.

They got engaged in 1993 and wed shortly after meeting through work, but it is unclear if they have formally filed for divorce.

She said at the time: "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," she began. "I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being 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 in-patient 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."

It has been suggested that Huw has also moved out of his family home in Dulwich, south London.

It is believed that he has been living on another property in the central London area and in Wales.

On July 31 during a 26-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. Under the law, images can mean photos or video clips.

The court heard that Edwards had engaged in WhatsApp conversations with a man who sent him 41 indecent images of children between December 2020 and August 2021. The man had sent Huw a total of 377 sexual images, 41 of which were indecent images of children. These included seven category A images - the most severe type, 12 category B, and 22 category C images.

It was stated at the time Huw asked the person to not send illegal photos.

Speaking in Huw's defence, his barrister Philip Evans KC said: "Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else."

Mr Evans says the defendant has "both mental and physical" health issues.