BBC bosses ‘took more than four weeks’ to respond to new Huw Edwards complaint
BBC bosses reportedly took more than four weeks to respond to a new complaint against suspended newsreader Huw Edwards.
The 61-year-old was suspended from his role as the face of BBC News at 10 in July after he faced allegations of sexual misconduct and was alleged to have paid a teenager thousands of pounds for explicit images.
Bosses are now in the midst of a “fact-finding” investigation after receiving a series of complaints regarding Huw’s alleged behaviour, but one whistleblower claimed it took over a month to get a response when they contacted the BBC with their accusation.
The former employee claimed to have contacted the broadcaster on 13 July, just one day after the newsreader was named publicly by his wife Vicky Flind as the TV star being investigated over sexual misconduct allegations.
Huw Edwards was suspended from his role at the BBC in July (BBC)The whistleblower was then told to contact the BBC's Corporate Investigation Team, which they did on 15 July, but by 31 July they had still not received any reply, so contacted the BBC again. In communications sent to the broadcaster, it is claimed they stated they were a former employee from the BBC, who had information regarding the fact-finding investigation into allegations against Huw, and had information about another employee, too.
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They allegedly still had no response until The Sun raised it with the BBC’s press office, and the former employee was asked by Simon Adair, Director of Safety, Security and Resilience, for their phone number.
The former BBC employee was 'shocked' after their allegations were reportedly ignored for four weeks (PA)They said they were “shocked” it had taken so long for the BBC to reply to their allegation of improper, not criminal, conduct, and added: “It is shocking they did not respond to me for so long, and I had to contact them three times. This is very serious so should be looked into.”
A spokesperson for the broadcaster told the Mirror: “We welcome anyone coming forward with information to contribute to our existing fact-finding investigation. While we wouldn’t comment on the detail of our on-going process, the BBC has reached out to this individual.
Huw was named by his wife Vicky as the star involved in the BBC's sexual misconduct investigation (AFP via Getty Images)“We take all contacts to the BBC very seriously. Our work is progressing and we have set out our approach on these matters in correspondence with the DCMS select committee who have published this on their website.
“Separately we are reviewing our non-editorial complaints process with Deloitte, and this work continues.”
Allegations against an unnamed BBC star were first published on 8 July after The Sun claimed an unnamed young person had been paid thousands of pounds to send them explicit images, with the broadcaster allegedly investigating the serious complaint.
However, the following day the young person rubbished the allegations through his lawyer, but the controversy rumbled on – as the mother who made the allegations said they stood by her claims. Other complaints were also made against Huw, which prompted his wife Vicky to publically make a statement on behalf of the newsreader, and identifying as the star being investigated.
Vicky Flind, Huw's wife'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."
She added: "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. I know that Huw is deeply sorry that so many colleagues have been impacted by the recent media speculation. We hope this statement will bring that to an end."
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The BBC also issued a statement on the same day to confirm they would be continuing their own investigation.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We have seen the statement from the police confirming they have completed their assessment and are not taking further action. We’re grateful to them for completing this work at speed.
"The police had previously asked us to pause our fact finding investigations and we will now move forward with that work, ensuring due process and a thorough assessment of the facts, whilst continuing to be mindful of our duty of care to all involved."
*If you are struggling with mental health, you can speak to a trained advisor from Mind mental health charity on 0300 123 3393 or email [email protected]
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