Tom Tugendhat urges review of Huw Edwards’s ‘unduly lenient’ sentence
Tom Tugendhat has urged the Attorney General to review the “lenient” sentence of Huw Edwards for child sex abuse offences.
Mr Tugendhat, the shadow security minister and Tory leadership contender, has written to Lord Hermer, saying the disgraced former BBC presenter’s suspended sentence was “inconsistent” with official guidelines that recommend jail for possessing the most severe Category A child abuse images of the kind sent to Edwards.
In his letter, Mr Tugendhat said: “It is crucial that sentences serve as a deterrent and reflect the serious nature of these crimes.
“More so, as a national household name, the country has been shocked by the criminal activities of Mr Edwards. I am sure that they will be looking to the Government to lead by example and ensure that heinous crimes are punished swiftly and appropriately.
“I urge you to formally review this case under the unduly lenient sentence regime. A reassessment would not only address public concern but also reinforce our commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and upholding justice.”
It is understood other complaints have been made by members of the public and politicians to Lord Hermer, urging him to refer the case to the Court of Appeal as being “unduly lenient”. Appeal Court judges can increase a sentence if they rule that it is unduly lenient.
However, the Attorney General’s office told The Telegraph on Tuesday that Edwards’s case is ineligible under the scheme, which is limited to sentences handed down by the crown court.
Because Edwards was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for two years, in a magistrates’ court, Lord Hermer is powerless to be able to refer his case to the Court of Appeal. It has led to demands for the Government to rethink the unduly lenient scheme.
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, said: “The Attorney General must take the appropriate legal steps immediately to review this weak pathetic sentence for Huw Edwards, which reinforces to millions of Britons that we are subject to two-tier justice. There is little more serious than child sex crimes, which devastate victims.
“I believe the Crown Prosecution Service or Attorney General can ask for retrial by crown court judge acting as District Judge, since it was wrongly allocated to magistrates’ court under section 66 of Courts Act 2003. If not, then rules must be changed. It should never have been dealt with at such a low court.”
Dame Vera Baird, a former Labour solicitor general who was also the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said: “It seems odd that there is a workable scheme for unduly lenient sentences in the crown court, which the public can ask the Attorney General to consider.
“Yet there is nothing that could help a member of the public who was a victim of what could be a very serious assault or sexual abuse, or any interested party to make a formal application on a sentence in the magistrates’ court.”
Edwards, who was the corporation’s highest-paid journalist and the man chosen to announce the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the nation, sent up to £1,500 to Alex Williams, a convicted paedophile, after receiving 41 indecent images of children via WhatsApp.
Westminster magistrates’ court heard how the married father of five told Williams to “go on” when asked whether he wanted “naughty pics and vids” of someone described as “young”.
The court heard that of the 41 indecent images viewed by Edwards, the majority of the children were aged between 13 and 15. But in one video sent to the BBC star, the child being abused was aged between seven and nine years old.
More than 7,000 people caught with images of children being sexually abused avoided going to jail in the past three years, a Telegraph analysis of official data revealed on Tuesday.