Martin Clunes as Huw Edwards

BlueBelle

I’m a bit on the line here, not about the abuse but the programme itself, I watched it but I didn’t find it comfortable viewing because I m not sure how I feel about it being made into ‘entertainment’ while his 5 children are still out there having to endure the results of his behaviour and media attention It felt voyeuristic.
Why was he not criminally convicted, two police forces Met and Welsh didn’t criminally charge him. I don’t understand why they didn’t or have I got that wrong
He certainly came across as a throughly dislikable, power abuser and sexual predator , but only one side was shown
This post is not meant to support him in any way what so ever I m just not sure it should have been made
Yes Martin Clunes played the part well, if that is how Huw Edwards really is I suppose it felt unbalanced to me.

Please don’t think I m defending him I m not. It’s the programme itself I felt uncomfortable with

I agree with you.

In discussions with a group of friends we were talking about about Edwards and the discussion turned to other perpetrators we had heard of I know of three. One was a photographer who befriended a primary school and invited groups to his holiday cottage another used take a friend to a charity committee meeting they were both on. They were both tried and went down for 16 and eighteen years. The third, as far as I know was never caught He was a previous owner of a property some ten years before we owned it The doors were steel plated and the windows had steel shutters The locals told us he was a head teacher of a Church of England school. It was his holiday home and he used to bring boys out from his school. It was in a beautiful and isolated spot. Need I say more !!

Browsing history
I hate my phone 😓

They can get information on your browinging history etc now

Most victims of abuse come from rotten homes.

MollyNew

My career was in the Criminal Justice System, so I have some knowledge of this subject. I'm not going to say what my job was.

The Police can visit him at home at any time and look at his browsing history and he will probably have been instructed not to delete any of it.

Some people, depending on their offending history and risk factors, can be on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

On the BBC News website there is an article "Four key takeaways from Huw Edwards' sentencing" which gives more detail about the sentencing decision by the Judge and Edwards' offending history. It also gives some information about Sentencing Guidelines , which all Judges and Magistrates have to consult before sentencing a convicted offender.

Thank you, it's good to have factual information.

The Police can visit him at home at any time and look at his browsing history and he will probably have been instructed not to delete any of it.

If you delete your browsing history, can it not be retrieved from the hard-drive? I'm not up to speed with these technical matters...

If not, than any offender could simply delete their history and no-one would know that they had.

TheSunRisesInTheEast

And probably still watching child abuse images according to rehabilitation and reoffending figures 😢.

My post was actually in reply to the post above it, referring to an old workmate of Cumbrianmale56. I don't think offenders ever get over their disgusting urges, and only chemical castration would stop the physical abuse, of course the viewing of paedophilic images is another matter, and you would have to rely on the police monitoring the perpetrators for life, I'm not sure how effective that is 🤷.

Rosie51

I've been asking the same question Dickens. I'm sorry but I don't believe that a man who enjoys looking at images of children being sexually abused would ever lose that urge. Some may learn self control to not look but I don't believe the urge disappears, and therefore they remain a potential danger.

Some time ago now I read the confessions of a man who had been convicted for similar offences to those of HE. In fact, it was a very long time ago so cannot remember where I picked up the article, I do know that it was not a tabloid article, it was very in-depth, not a 'click-bait' piece. Briefly, this particular individual said he fought almost every day with his urge and, with the help of therapy, had developed strategies to deal with it. The man appeared quite insightful, and determined to 'overcome' his obsession but he admitted it was very difficult to rid himself of these urges and that he consciously had to think of himself as 'not being that man' every minute of every day. That was the gist of the article, basically.

I wonder just how many of these offenders are like him though, IYSWIM?

My career was in the Criminal Justice System, so I have some knowledge of this subject. I'm not going to say what my job was.

The Police can visit him at home at any time and look at his browsing history and he will probably have been instructed not to delete any of it.

Some people, depending on their offending history and risk factors, can be on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

On the BBC News website there is an article "Four key takeaways from Huw Edwards' sentencing" which gives more detail about the sentencing decision by the Judge and Edwards' offending history. It also gives some information about Sentencing Guidelines , which all Judges and Magistrates have to consult before sentencing a convicted offender.

I've been asking the same question Dickens. I'm sorry but I don't believe that a man who enjoys looking at images of children being sexually abused would ever lose that urge. Some may learn self control to not look but I don't believe the urge disappears, and therefore they remain a potential danger.

MollyNew

TheSunRisesInTheEast

And probably still watching child abuse images according to rehabilitation and reoffending figures 😢.

In addition to his suspended prison sentence, Edwards was sentenced to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders register for 7 years. Therefore, the probation service and police can look at his phone or other devices at any time and if he breaches the terms and conditions, he will be arrested.

the probation service and police can look at his phone or other devices at any time

How is that done - do they go to the individual's home to check their devices, or can they do that remotely? Of course, there is the dark-web - but I think you need a special browser for that which, I assume, would raise some red flags if it was detected on a device.

Regarding the Sex Offender's Register, I do wonder if some of those on it should in fact ever come off it. There's a difference, for example, between (say) an older man who has an ill-fated 'love affair' with a teenager and who, to that date, has a clean record, and individuals like Edwards who prey on younger men transactionally and - much worse - store category A images of the SA of children as young as 7. The former might be genuinely remorseful about his lustful stupidity - but can those who are turned on by images of children sexualised for their gratification be rehabilitated? I mean, is there a point where they are in fact 'cured' and no longer a danger?
Don't shoot me, I'm not suggesting I am right, I'm simply questioning.

TheSunRisesInTheEast

And probably still watching child abuse images according to rehabilitation and reoffending figures 😢.

In addition to his suspended prison sentence, Edwards was sentenced to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders register for 7 years. Therefore, the probation service and police can look at his phone or other devices at any time and if he breaches the terms and conditions, he will be arrested.

And probably still watching child abuse images according to rehabilitation and reoffending figures 😢.

Toetoe

I wonder if Edwards is experiencing abuse outside of his home , he may be free from a prison sentence but he will always be a prisoner . He may live in luxury but step out and reality will always hit him . Yes he did deserve prison we will never know why , no justice for the victims but I hope he sits in sufference

I can remember working with a man who was very popular and seemed completely normal, until he was suddenly suspended from work and the reason being gross misconduct. 3 months later he was charged with downloading child abuse images, was forced out of town and then was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
While this is 23 years ago and he probably has started a new life, there is no way he can return to his home town and will be constantly watching his back.

Luckygirl3

Was it entertainment? I don't know.

I saw it as a well produced and acted representation of the facts, which has more impact than a documentary and hopefully gave those in power reason to think about how they handle such incidents. And also hopefully gave a voice to "Ryan" whose life had been wrecked.

Rather like the drama about the Post Office scandal which made the public aware of what went on because, even though these events are publicised, presenting these scandals as drama/documentary concentrates the mind on what happened.

Toetoe

I wonder if Edwards is experiencing abuse outside of his home , he may be free from a prison sentence but he will always be a prisoner . He may live in luxury but step out and reality will always hit him . Yes he did deserve prison we will never know why , no justice for the victims but I hope he sits in sufference

The abused children will be living in the painful reality of his abuse for the rest of their lives. It’s soul crushing for them. The damage done by this degenerate doesn’t ever go away for them. Edwards, like most predators, will never feel bad enough to seek out the punishment he truly deserves, and I imagine he still prefers his non-imprisonment over actual prison 365 days of the year. He’ll hardly “suffer” even remotely close to the way his victims will, if at all. He is the lowest form of human life and if he doesn’t pay in this life I surely hope he will for an eternity after his life ends.

I’ve only watched half of it so far, but will watch the rest over the weekend. I’m not sure how I feel about this as entertainment like many of you, although I found it compelling viewing, I’m almost ashamed to say. The programme seemed gratuitous, somehow, but it also gives the viewer an awareness of what can go on behind closed doors. The scene where Edwards was “pleasuring himself” was especially shocking and distasteful. It was extremely well acted and Martin Clunes was very convincing as Edwards. I thought that Edwards as a newsreader/Royal commentator had great gravitas and was highly professional. Rather stern, but with that sense of seriousness and professionalism that befitted his role. He was always immaculately dressed and groomed (not meaning that to sound shallow), but he always looked the part. Just shows you that a person’s private life can be very different. I feel dreadfully sorry for his wife and family and especially for his victims. What a vile, arrogant and controlling man. A man with perverted interests. Not to diminish mental health in any way, maybe the fact that Edwards then sited mental health issues comes about through shame (if he has any) and perhaps a scintilla of guilt. Also the fact that it’s been found out. I never want to see his face on TV again. I wish his family and his victims well, they’ve experienced events that are life-changing.

I'm an old cynic. Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see is my mantra these days. Of course I 'liked' people on TV in the past. I probably still do but always say they 'seem' nice. You live and learn. Most are in it for the money. Edwards has his house up for sale for just under £4m.

His very persona exemplified this.

Interestingly I never felt that about him, and I do not think this is the benefit of hindsight. He seemed a bit of a lightweight to me and I sometimes wondered why he was picked for these events. Dimbleby was more the ticket.

Kate1949

Why were some of you shocked? You don't know him. You know the face he presents to the world.

Because he appeared so upstanding and morally upright, chosen to spearhead events in this country which are supposedly the best we can offer in the way of tradition and values. His very persona exemplified this.

No one was really surprised at the blonde cigar toting, medal wearing eye rolling Saville proving to be unsavoury.

Was it entertainment? I don't know.

I saw it as a well produced and acted representation of the facts, which has more impact than a documentary and hopefully gave those in power reason to think about how they handle such incidents. And also hopefully gave a voice to "Ryan" whose life had been wrecked.

Something like this just makes me wonder who else is flying under the radar right now, and seeing as a fair few have been working for the BBC perhaps the new head could start by having a zero tolerance attitude towards anyone working for the organisation who has raised red flags with others, no matter how much the offending person is worth when it comes to viewing figures.
All too often it seems complaints have been ignored.

Kate1949

Why were some of you shocked? You don't know him. You know the face he presents to the world.

If you are an older person who was brought up with anologue TV, I think we (possibly) regarded some of these people as almost friends.

I can recall hanging onto every word spoken by Blue Peter presenters for example. My late MiL referred to " Delia" as if she were a family friend.

I wonder if Edwards is experiencing abuse outside of his home , he may be free from a prison sentence but he will always be a prisoner . He may live in luxury but step out and reality will always hit him . Yes he did deserve prison we will never know why , no justice for the victims but I hope he sits in sufference

Martin Clunes is a top entertainer but I would not find this subject entertaing. Sounds horrific. Just not for me or my ageing mind.