Huw Edwards: Two police forces not pursuing action against presenter - as BBC reports fresh claims
Edwards has been named by his wife Vicky Flind in a statement issued on his behalf. The BBC has also reported he was facing "yet more allegations of inappropriate behaviour" - this time towards his colleagues at the corporation.
Thursday 13 July 2023 02:20, UK
Two police forces have said they are not pursuing action against Huw Edwards over claims he paid a teenager for explicit pictures.
The Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police looked at allegations against the BBC presenter and both said there was no information to indicate criminal offences had been committed.
Edwards has been named by his wife as the BBC star at the centre of the scandal that has dominated headlines.
Huw Edwards latest: BBC presenter 'suffering serious mental health issues'
Edwards' wife Vicky Flind said her husband was "suffering from serious mental health issues" and is now "receiving in-patient hospital care where he will stay for the foreseeable future" as she asked for privacy for her family.
It comes as the BBC reported he was facing "yet more allegations of inappropriate behaviour" - this time towards his colleagues at the corporation.
Two current colleagues and a former BBC staff member said they had received inappropriate messages from the presenter.
One told BBC News they were contacted this year with a flirtatious message which referenced their appearance.
Another said they felt messages they received were an abuse of power.
'No further police action'
The Met Police said detectives from its specialist crime command have "concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed".
Officers had "spoken to a number of parties including the BBC and the alleged complainant and the alleged complainant's family, both via another police force," it added.
The force said: "There is no further police action. As such, the Met has advised the BBC it can continue with its internal investigation.
"We are aware of media reporting of further allegations against the same individual. No specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time.
"Should evidence of criminality or safeguarding issues be identified at any point we would expect matters to be referred to the relevant police force."
Read more:
Who is Huw Edwards? Newsreader named at centre of scandal
Huw Edwards: Wife's statement in full
'An awful and shocking episode': Huw Edwards' friends and colleagues react
'No criminality was identified'
South Wales Police said it was in contact with representatives of the Met and the BBC.
"Information was initially received by the force in April 2023 regarding the welfare of an adult. No criminality was identified," the force said.
"Following recent events, further enquiries have been carried out and officers have spoken to a number of parties to establish whether any criminal allegations are being made.
"At this time, there is no evidence that any criminal offences have been committed. There are no ongoing enquiries being carried out by South Wales Police."
It added that any further claims would be investigated if reported to police.
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BBC clarifies Edwards has not resigned
The BBC initially said Edwards had resigned but shortly afterwards clarified he had not.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We have seen the statement from the police confirming they have completed their assessment and are not taking further action. We're grateful to them for completing this work at speed.
"The police had previously asked us to pause our fact-finding investigations and we will now move forward with that work, ensuring due process and a thorough assessment of the facts, whilst continuing to be mindful of our duty of care to all involved."
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Sun says it has no plans to publish further allegations
The Sun has said it has no plans to publish further allegations about Edwards.
A spokesperson for the newspaper said it will cooperate with the BBC's internal investigation process.
"We will provide the BBC team with a confidential and redacted dossier containing serious and wide-ranging allegations which we have received, including some from BBC personnel," the spokesperson said.
Edwards is one of the corporation's most high-profile newsreaders and is currently on a salary of more than £430,000.
He has presented the flagship BBC News at Ten programme for 20 years but was suspended after allegations were published by The Sun.