Welcome to newsnIght, lIve each weeknIght. Some of the new detaIls that were revealed at westmInster MagIstrates Court Today as Huw Edwards was gIven a sIx month suspended JaIl Term for havIng chIld Sexual Abuse Images on hIs phone was dIsturbIng and harrowIng. I am goIng to report a BrIef Extract from the hearIng, whIch I want to let you know Is graphIc and upsettIng. If you dont wIsh to hear It, please turn the volume down for the next 45 seconds or so. The reason Im readIng It to you Is because It featured In open Court Today and It makes clear the serIousness of some of the Images that edwards had on hIs phone. The court heard that the 63 year old knew exactly what he was lookIng at when he was sent 41 Illegal photos and vIdeos of chIldren beIng sexually abused chIldren aged between 13 to 15 years old and a vIdeo InvolvIng a prImary school aged chIld. ThIs showed, and Im quotIng from Court Documents now, a male chIld aged around 7 to 9 wIth hIs trousers pulled down and hIs Mouth BeIng penetrated by a penIs. Some of the Images sent to the Ex Presenter had the ages of the young people In and used the word adolescents. When the man sendIng them, a now convIcted paedophIle called alex wIllIams, asked If he wanted more Images of young people, edwards replIed go on. But also edwards told hIm, dont send anythIng underage. The court Heard Edwards paId wIllIams by way of an apparent Thank You but saId he dIdnt remember openIng any of these Images. The ChIef MagIstrate In hIs sentencIng remarks saId he dIdnt belIeve edwards represented a danger to chIldren, belIeved he could be rehabIlItated, was sufferIng from a mental Health DIsorder and hIs remorse was genuIne. Heres what the NatIonal CrIme Agency told the Bbc Today about the retraumatIsIng effect of such chIld Sexual Abuse Images. BehInd every Image Is a vulnerable chIld that has been exploIted and has been abused, and every tIme that that Image Is vIewed, cIrculated and dIstrIbuted AgaIn And AgaIn And agaIn, leads to re vIctImIse that chIld and cIrculate and contInue that level of abuse. The court heard the Ex Presenter was profoundly sorry and recognIsed the repugnant nature of such Images and the hurt that Is done to those who appear In them. Todays sentence completed the downfall of the bbc news hIghest paId presenter, a presenter who contInued to be paId by the corporatIon after he was arrested last november. Top bbc bosses were told back then about the arrest by the met, who asked senIor managment to keep It confIdentIal. Last week, the Bbc DIrector general revealed hed made a formal request To Edwards to pay back 200,000 of last years estImated 475,000 salary. Today, the bbc saId It was appalled by hIs crImes. So, tonIght, what are the questIons stIll outstandIng for the bbc over the way they handled thIs . Has the corporatIon really learned the comprehensIve lessons after Stuart Hall and JImmy SavIle . 0ur Panel TonIght PolItIcal Commentator adam boulton, who was a frIend of edwards but hasnt spoken to hIm sInce lastjuly, and former Shadow Culture Secretary thangam debbonaIre. Later In the show, Ill be talkIng to former Bbc DIrector of tv Alan Yentob, who was edwards boss for a perIod. FIrst, we have thejournalIst who broke the orIgInal story for The Sun Injuly 2023 about an unnamed Bbc Presenter payIng a 17 year old thousands of pounds In exchange for explIcIt Images, scarlett howes. Welcome to newsnIght. The Mother And Stepdad of the Young Man who was paId that money by edwards, who went to the son last year, what Is theIr reactIon to the Sentence Today . The . ReactIon to the Sentence Today . They are absolutely reactIon to the Sentence Today . TIe are absolutely devastated reactIon to the Sentence Today . Tte are absolutely devastated by reactIon to the Sentence Today . Ttez1 are absolutely devastated by the result of the sentencIng. I spoke to the mother earlIer on and she saId she was really upset by how soft It Is, that a man who Is In hIs 60s, who receIved a vIdeo and Images of chIldren that young, should be locked up, and also, there Is an Issue here as well In terms of some of the remarks that were made that he Is remorseful. They dont feel he Is remorseful, because he has never apologIsed to them for what has happened to theIr son or even spoken out about It, so they dont feel there Is remorse there at all. And they told you when they came to The Sun of the way that the bbc was InvestIgatIng the complaInt, and theIr complaInt to the bbc was, please can Huw Edwards stop payIng out some thousands of pounds In exchange for Images. What dId the bbc say about the InvestIgatIon . What they say to about the InvestIgatIon . What they say to about the InvestIgatIon . What they say to about the InvestI. AtIon ... InvestIgatIon . They saId they had one to InvestIgatIon . They saId they had gone to the InvestIgatIon . They saId they had gone to the Bbc InvestIgatIon . They saId they had gone to the bbc to InvestIgatIon . They saId they had gone to the bbc To Make InvestIgatIon . They saId they had gone to the bbc To Make a InvestIgatIon . They saId they had gone to the bbc To Make a complaInt about Huw Edwards as behavIour, but that was Ignored, whIch Is why they came to us. After we publIshed the story, the bbc launched an InvestIgatIon, a Fact FIndIng InquIry Into what happened. Throughout the InvestIgatIon, they felt It was IncredIbly slow, nothIng was really happenIng. The stepfather would call the Lead InvestIgator multIple tImes to ask what had happened. And what was happenIng. And they saId that edwards had not even been IntervIewed durIng that tIme about the allegatIons, and they were IncredIbly frustrated by what happened. And I thInk there was a poInt where the InvestIgators saId to them, along the lInes of, and I paraphrase, you can tell us the specIfIc words, essentIally, dont worry, there Is somethIng bIgger comIng down the track. Yes, they were very upset about, as I saId, the progress of the InvestIgatIon. An IntervIew lasted about 50 mInutes wIth them. If} . InvestIgatIon. An IntervIew lasted about 50 mInutes wIth them. It} . Yes, about 50 mInutes wIth them. 50 . Yes, 50, whIch Is unbelIevably short If you thInk about the amount of allegatIons they had theIr claIms. They spent 50 mInutes wIth them, dIdnt even IntervIew the mother properly. I thInk the Lead InvestIgator dIdnt even turn up to the IntervIew. Never spoke to them really about It agaIn, dIdnt speak that would see them In person agaIn. Around chrIstmas, the stepfather called up and asked what was happenIng, and they saId, SomethIng Else Is happenIng, somethIng bIg Is happenIng, and now we know that that Is after edwards was arrested. You say you gave the bbc a dossIer of multIple allegatIons InvolvIng alleged InapproprIate behavIour by Huw Edwards, and It Involved complaInts from Bbc Staff and people outsIde of the bbc. As far as you know, what dId the bbc do wIth that InformatIon . We know, what dId the bbc do wIth that InformatIon . Know, what dId the bbc do wIth that InformatIon . ~. , InformatIon . We dont know, because the dIdnt InformatIon . We dont know, because they dIdnt even InformatIon . We dont know, because they dIdnt even contact InformatIon . We dont know, because they dIdnt even contact the InformatIon . We dont know, because they dIdnt even contact the people I they dIdnt even contact the people that are Involved In the dossIer to tell them the InvestIgatIon had closed, so they dIdnt even hear back from them, so that Is the shockIng part of It. Can you gIve us some examples of what you put In that dossIer . It was just InapproprIate behavIour. 0bvIously, It was just InapproprIate behavIour. ObvIously, you know, we cant go Into a lot of what Is In that dossIer, but we have publIshed some of It, IncludIng a story I was workIng on before I even spoke to the parents at the centre of our orIgInal story Injuly, and that was a Young Man who edwards was pesterIng for pIctures, sendIng money to and tryIng to meet up durIng lockdown, and he actually dId meet hIm durIng lockdown, so there was that, and a colleague as well that felt uncomfortable wIth hIs behavIour. The bbc say In the case of Huw Edwards, we consIder carefully all Issues raIsed wIth thIs as part of the Fact FIndIng and dIscIplInary InvestIgatIon, and that Informed dIscIplInary actIon durIng thIs perIod. He chose to resIgn wIth ImmedIate effect wIthout any fInancIal settlement. Do you thInk If the parents, the mother and stepfather, had had theIr complaInts InvestIgated more thoroughly, more swIftly, there mIght have been dIfferent decIsIons made by the bbc by the tIme the met told Them Edwards was beIng arrested on suspIcIon of possessIon of chIld Sexual Abuse Images . I suspIcIon of possessIon of chIld Sexual Abuse Images . Sexual abuse Images . I thInk defInItely. Sexual abuse Images . I thInk defInItely, and Sexual Abuse Images . I thInk defInItely, and that Sexual Abuse Images . I thInk defInItely, and that Is Sexual Abuse Images . I thInk defInItely, and that Is not Sexual Abuse Images . I thInk| defInItely, and that Is notjust Sexual Abuse Images . I thInk defInItely, and that Is notjust for me. I have notjust at that. That Is an Independent InvestIgatIon conducted by deloItte that saId the ComplaInt System was not suffIcIent, and that the complaInt was mIshandled, and the bbc apologIsed to the parents for that. So there Is defInItely some kInd of faIlIng In thIs sense, yes. Do they stIll want the Outcome of that dIscIplInary InquIry . Yes, yes. They have an apology and feel somewhat vIndIcated but also feel somewhat vIndIcated but also feel lIke there Is no closure. So they have gone through all of thIs, a year of hell, really, to be told In aprIl when edwards resIgned, 0k, In aprIl when edwards resIgned, ok, that In aprIl when edwards resIgned, 0k, thatIs In aprIl when edwards resIgned, ok, that Is It, case closed, the InvestIgatIon Is over, and they havent had any. That there was no transparency about what was found out In that InvestIgatIon, no apology really about what had actually happened, and they dont really know why It happened how It was able to happen, and I thInk they want that InvestIgatIon to contInue, and also, we have to remember thIngs have changed now as well. The young person at the centre of thIs has spoken out about what happened and has subsequently saId that he has felt groomed by hIm. You has subsequently saId that he has felt groomed by hIm. Felt groomed by hIm. You were crItIcIsed at felt groomed by hIm. You were crItIcIsed at the felt groomed by hIm. You were crItIcIsed at the tIme felt groomed by hIm. You were crItIcIsed at the tIme because l felt groomed by hIm. You were I crItIcIsed at the tIme because you dId not Include the Young Mans lawyers denIal, that the whole story was rubbIsh. {III lawyers denIal, that the whole story was rubbIsh. Lawyers denIal, that the whole story was rubbIsh. Of course, but we made that DecIsIon Story was rubbIsh. Of course, but we made that decIsIon because story was rubbIsh. Of course, but we made that decIsIon because the made that decIsIon because the youngster Is IncredIbly vulnerable and we knew that edwards was pressurIsIng hIm to deny It. He paId hIm after our story broke, and after that came out, he paId hIm money. Edwards paId the Young Man . Yes. That came out, he paId hIm money. Edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Ouna Edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Young Man edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Young Man has edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Young Man has saId edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Young Man has saId that edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Young Man has saId that In edwards paId the Young Man . Yes, and the Young Man has saId that In an the Young Man has saId that In an IntervIew. Let the Young Man has saId that In an IntervIew.. IntervIew. Let me brIng In my other anellIsts. IntervIew. Let me brIng In my other panellIsts. Former IntervIew. Let me brIng In my other panellIsts. Former shadow IntervIew. Let me brIng In my other panellIsts. Former Shadow Culture | panellIsts. Former Shadow Culture Secretary thangam debonnaIre, how do you thInk the bbc have handled thIs . I share my colleague lIsa nandy, The Current I share my colleague lIsa nandy, The Current Culture Secretary, her desIre current Culture Secretary, her desIre for current Culture Secretary, her desIre for the salary to be repaId. I know desIre for the salary to be repaId. I know thats what the bbc and the culture I know thats what the bbc and the Culture Secretary would lIke, but If we can Culture Secretary would lIke, but If we can zoom out a lIttle, I thInk Its Important we recognIse culture a power Its Important we recognIse culture a Power Imbalances. That really matters, a Power Imbalances. That really matters, because In my prevIous role as shadow matters, because In my prevIous role as Shadow Culture Secretary, but also In as Shadow Culture Secretary, but also InIohs as Shadow Culture Secretary, but also Injobs prevIously wIth as Shadow Culture Secretary, but also In jobs prevIously wIth vIolent men also In jobs prevIously wIth vIolent men. Men also In jobs prevIously wIth vIolent men, men who abuse theIr partners and often men, men who abuse theIr partners and often theIr chIldren, they thrIved and often theIr chIldren, they thrIved on a culture of Imbalance of power thrIved on a culture of Imbalance of power whIch allowed them to choose to abuse power whIch allowed them to choose to abuse that power. I have known a lot of to abuse that power. I have known a lot of powerful men, workIng In PolItIcs Lot of powerful men, workIng In polItIcs and Industry. Most choose not to polItIcs and Industry. Most choose not to abuse that power, but It matters not to abuse that power, but It matters and people are prepared to challenge matters and people are prepared to challenge a culture of Power Imbalance or not. You have to be able Imbalance or not. You have to be able to Imbalance or not. You have to be able to stand up to, to resIst, and help support those who feel they arent help support those who feel they arent able to challenge that Power Imbalance. I thInk that Is Important. I thInk the bbc has acknowledged that to an extent In the house of Lords CommIttee InquIry last week the house of Lords CommIttee InquIry last week I the house of Lords CommIttee InquIry last week. I would lIke to urge them to look last week. I would lIke to urge them to look carefully at that. The culture to look carefully at that. The culture of to look carefully at that. The culture of celebrIty, the culture of Powerful Culture of celebrIty, the culture of powerful men, and It Is mostly, though powerful men, and It Is mostly, though not powerful men, and It Is mostly, though not always meant. It Is really though not always meant. It Is really Important that we resIst that that. SpoIler alert that. SpoIler alert they have done that. SpoIler alert they have done that before. They have looked at the Power Imbalance wIth prevIous hIgh profIle celebrIty Bbc Presenters. Let me brIng In adam. How do you thInk the bbc have handled thIs . There are questIons to answer. Why dId they there are questIons to answer. Why dId they not there are questIons to answer. Why dId they not respond there are questIons to answer. Why dId they not respond to there are questIons to answer. Why dId they not respond to the there are questIons to answer. Why dId they not respond to the InItIal. DId they not respond to the InItIal complaInt dId they not respond to the InItIal complaInt from dId they not respond to the InItIal complaInt from the dId they not respond to the InItIal complaInt from the parents dId they not respond to the InItIal complaInt from the parents of. DId they not respond to the InItIal| complaInt from the parents of the young complaInt from the parents of the Young Man . ComplaInt from the parents of the Young Man . Why. ComplaInt from the parents of the Young Man . Why, after complaInt from the parents of the Young Man . Why, after the complaInt from the parents of the Young Man . Why, after The Sun I complaInt from the parents of the. Young man . Why, after The Sun had drawn Young Man . Why, after The Sun had drawn attentIon Young Man . Why, after The Sun had drawn attentIon to Young Man . Why, after The Sun had drawn attentIon to that Young Man . Why, after The Sun had drawn attentIon to that lack Young Man . Why, after The Sun had drawn attentIon to that lack of drawn attentIon to that lack of response. Drawn attentIon to that lack of response. As drawn attentIon to that lack of response, as we drawn attentIon to that lack of response, as we clearly drawn attentIon to that lack of response, as We Clearlyjust. Drawn attentIon to that lack of response, as We Clearlyjust heard from response, as We Clearlyjust heard from scarlett. Response, as We Clearlyjust heard from scarlett, dId response, as We Clearlyjust heard from scarlett, dId they response, as We Clearlyjust heard from scarlett, dId they not response, as We Clearlyjust Heardl from scarlett, dId they not conduct adequate from scarlett, dId they not conduct adequate InquIry . From scarlett, dId they not conduct adequate InquIry . I from scarlett, dId they not conduct adequate InquIry . I fInd from scarlett, dId they not conduct adequate InquIry . IfInd It adequate InquIry . IfInd It astonIshIng adequate InquIry . IfInd It astonIshIng at adequate InquIry . IfInd It astonIshIng at that adequate InquIry . IfInd It astonIshIng at that stagel adequate InquIry . IfInd It astonIshIng at that stage they dId not speak astonIshIng at that stage they dId not speak to astonIshIng at that stage they dId not speak To Huw. AstonIshIng at that stage they dId not speak To Huw. AgaIn, astonIshIng at that stage they dId not speak To Huw. AgaIn, I astonIshIng at that stage they dId not speak To Huw. AgaIn, I dontl not speak To Huw. AgaIn, I dont thInk not speak To Huw. AgaIn, I dont thInk any not speak To Huw. AgaIn, I dont thInk any commercIal not speak To Huw. AgaIn, I dont. ThInk any CommercIal OrganIsatIon could thInk any CommercIal OrganIsatIon could conceIvably thInk any CommercIal OrganIsatIon could conceIvably have thInk any CommercIal OrganIsatIon could conceIvably have gone thInk any CommercIal OrganIsatIon could conceIvably have gone on. Could conceIvably have gone on payIng could conceIvably have gone on PayIng Huw could conceIvably have gone on PayIng Huw for could conceIvably have gone on PayIng Huw for the could conceIvably have gone on PayIng Huw for the perIod could conceIvably have gone on PayIng Huw for the perIod of. Could conceIvably have gone on. PayIng huw for the perIod of tIme that the PayIng Huw for the perIod of tIme that the bbc PayIng Huw for the perIod of tIme that the bbc dId, PayIng Huw for the perIod of tIme that the bbc dId, Let PayIng Huw for the perIod of tIme that the bbc dId, let alone PayIng Huw for the perIod of tIme that the bbc dId, let alone once I that the bbc dId, let alone once they were that the bbc dId, let alone once they were Informed, that the bbc dId, let alone once they were Informed, albeIt that the bbc dId, let alone once they were Informed, AlbeIt In. They were Informed, AlbeIt In confIdence. They were Informed, AlbeIt In confIdence, of they were Informed, A