Veteran UK news presenter Huw Edwards has been hospitalized after a week of headlines and allegations about his personal life.
Met police investigators concluded their assessment of the original allegations and determined that there was no evidence of a crime. South Wales Police also said no further action would be taken.
Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind, released a statement on her behalf Wednesday, revealing that her husband was “suffering from severe mental health issues” and was “receiving inpatient hospice treatment, where he will remain for the foreseeable future” while requesting privacy for her family .
Here are the elements as stated by the BBC:
For twenty years, Huw Edwards was the BBC’s flagship anchor News at ten program – watched by millions every weeknight for the latest news of the day.
But he has now been identified as the presenter at the center of allegations over his conduct, following five days of speculation and mounting claims published in British media, including colleagues at BBC News.
As the BBC’s most senior news anchor, Edwards has been a fixture of some of the UK’s most historic national moments.
The 61-year-old was the person who informed millions of TV viewers around the world that Queen Elizabeth II was dead.
The Sun newspaper published a story on Friday that an unidentified BBC presenter was accused of paying a young man, now 20, thousands of pounds over a number of years for graphic photographs.
In an interview, the young man’s mother expressed her concern about the payments and her concern that they financed her son’s crack cocaine habit.
Over the next few days, a trickle of further allegations was published by the Sun, and then by BBC News, which reports independently on the BBC as if it were another organisation.
On Sunday, the BBC admitted it received a complaint linked to the Sun’s initial allegations seven weeks before they were prosecuted by the newspaper and suspended a male member of staff.
The next day, a lawyer for the young woman involved said the Sun story was “garbage” and denied anything criminal had occurred.
It was not long before further, and several, allegations involving the presenter were made in reports from the Sun and BBC News.
These included claims of ‘threatening’ texting to a person in her 20s, a visit to another person during a coronavirus lockdown and inappropriate texting to a BBC staff member.
A series of developments occurred within a ten-minute period on Wednesday as the Metropolitan Police said it had found no evidence of crime in its review of evidence and the BBC said its internal corporate investigation would continue as a result.
Then Huw Edwards’ identity as BBC presenter was confirmed in a statement made on his behalf by his wife.
Huw Edwards will respond to stories posted about him when he’s able to, his wife said.
The BBC said its company investigation would continue now that police have ruled out the crime.
But questions remain for the BBC about what it knew about the allegations, and when, and about its response.
The Sun newspaper said it would co-operate with the BBC and had no plans to publish any further allegations about Edwards.
“This remains a very complex set of circumstances,” BBC chief Davie said.
Additional source: Keeper
