28 February 2024 , 11:14
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The mother of the young person at the centre of the Huw Edwards scandal has spoken out following the BBC's apology, saying: "Our family has been ripped apart".
The corporation launched a review into its complaints procedure after allegations about a "household name" presenter were published in a national newspaper. In a statement issued this week the BBC admitted it should have acted more quickly when a complaint was made.
News at Ten presenters Edwards was named as the BBC star alleged to have paid over £35,000 to a young person since they were 17 in return for sexually explicit images.
The BBC announced that a review of non-editorial complaints, led by specialists Deloitte, had concluded. Edwards has not spoken on the scandal or been seen since his last BBC News appearance on July 5 2023 as he was suspended by the broadcaster pending the outcome of the investigation.
In a statement, BBC Group Chief Operating Officer Leigh Tavazia said: "The review identifies process improvements we accept those in full, and we are delivering on an action plan with a number of enhancements already in place."
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She added: "The report identifies specific process shortcomings in the presenter case. The initial complaint in this case was not escalated quickly enough to senior management and we have apologised to the complainant for this." It continued: "Although our existing processes and systems are, on the whole, working effectively, this review shows that we need to join them up better to ensure no matter how a non-editorial complaint comes into the BBC it is escalated swiftly, when needed, and dealt with by the right people."
Huw Edwards' wife named him as the man at the centre of the allegations last summer (BBC)The mother of the young person has since said the family "suffered immense pain" and has left her "broken". She said: “If the BBC had handled the complaint properly, we would have not had to go through this hell. We have been ripped apart as a family.” Speaking to The Sun, the mother shared her hope that the corporation could learn from their experience. "We can only hope this should speed up the process towards the proper conclusions we need. We just want to move on knowing what we told the BBC has been properly investigated, whatever that takes."
Meanwhile the young person's step-dad said "it's only right" that the corporation apologised. Back in July, it was reported that a family member had complained about Edwards at a BBC building on May 18, 2023. When the BBC did not respond, the family turned to a newspaper and claimed the BBC had failed to take seriously their concerns. Edwards' wife Vicky Flind named him as the man at the centre of the allegations in a statement issued on his behalf, after a week of speculation over who the unnamed BBC employee was.
Vicky's statement read: "In light of the recent reporting regarding the 'BBC Presenter' I am making this statement on behalf of my husband Huw Edwards, after what have been five extremely difficult days for our family. I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children. Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues.
"As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years. The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he'll stay for the foreseeable future.
"Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published. To be clear Huw was first told that there were allegations being made against him last Thursday. In the circumstances and given Huw's condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected."
The former chief news presenter, 62, has not been interviewed to address the evidence gathered by investigators since the scandal broke last year. It has been reported he remains too unwell to respond to the BBC investigation.
The Mirror has approached the BBC for comment.