Loose Women's Coleen Nolan furious as panel discuss Huw Edwards' suspended sentence

Former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has received a six-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to having accessed indecent images of children.

The 63-year-old ex-anchor of News At Ten appeared in Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday (September 16), where it emerged that he forked out up to £1,500 to obtain the 41 illicit images from a child abuser.

Following his admission to three counts of "making" indecent photographs, Edwards was given a suspended jail term. In addition to the suspension, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring mandated Edwards to enroll in the sex offenders register for a span of seven years and to participate in a sex offender treatment program.

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The verdict's aftermath has stirred public furor, with many expressing outrage over Edwards avoiding immediate incarceration. During a Loose Women airing on Tuesday (September 17), panelist Coleen Nolan didn't hide her astonishment at the outcome.

She shared: "I was so shocked when it all came out, then the sentence that he got yesterday was just, I was absolutely speechless about it. I thought, well if they can't use someone, and it was such a high profile case, I thought this is the perfect time now to make an example of this will not be tolerated at all.

"What message is that putting out to any child abuser or paedophile? It's absolutely shocking."

Adding to the conversation, renowned TV figure Janet Street-Porter pointed out that Huw Edwards' mental health seemed precarious, reports the Mirror.

Although she agreed with what Coleen had said, Janet added: "At the same time, it's this idea of making an example of someone. What we've seen in the last few weeks is the government quickly changed the law so that the rioters, the people who went mad on our streets in August, were quickly dealt with.

"Some of them received custodial sentences for what previously would've been a slap on the wrist, a big fine or public service, hundreds of them have received custodial sentences. I'm weighing that against this and I'm thinking at the end of the day, what would be gained by putting Huw Edwards in jail?"

Cutting in host Ruth Langsford told Janet it would bring justice to the victims. Janet added: "Justice for the victims but he would be very vulnerable."

However, it seemed her comments did not go down well with her co-stars as Coleen shouted: "Don't care! Don't care, good. " Co-star Brenda Edwards added: "Sorry, but I can't. The word vulnerable, there are vulnerable children, seven years old being taken advantage of, he's an adult who a lot of people trusted."

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