Despite complaints, Huw Edwards' sentence cannot be reviewed for mitigation

Despite complaints to the Attorney General, no reduction in sentence can be requested against disgraced BBC presenter Huw Edwards.

Edwards, the BBC's highest-paid journalist, escaped a six-month suspended prison sentence on Monday after admitting accessing indecent images of children as young as seven.

Citizens and politicians have reportedly filed complaints with Justice Minister Richard Hermer, urging him to refer the case to the Court of Appeal because the approach was “too lenient.”

Under this rule, appeal judges can increase the sentence if they decide that it is unduly lenient.

Sentence “weak and pathetic”

Richard Tice, deputy leader of the Reform Movement, said: “The Attorney General must immediately take the appropriate legal action to review this weak and pathetic sentence against Huw Edwards, which shows millions of Britons that we are subject to a two-tier justice system.

“There is hardly anything worse than sexual crimes against children, which deeply shock the victims.”

The Attorney General's office told The Telegraph that Edwards' case did not fall under the program, which is limited to sentences imposed by the Crown Court.

Mr Hermer KC cannot refer Edwards' case to the Court of Appeal because Edwards was convicted in the District Court.

The revelations led to calls on Tuesday to reconsider the “excessively lenient” sentencing rule, which is intended to give victims and the public the right to challenge “lenient” sentences in district court.

Retrial

Mr Tice said: “I believe that the prosecution service or the Attorney General can apply for a retrial by a Crown Court judge in his capacity as a district judge because the case was wrongly assigned to the magistrates' court under section 66 of the Courts Act 2003. If not, the rules need to be changed. The case should never have been heard in such an inferior court.”

Dame Vera Baird, former Labour Solicitor General and Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales, said: “It seems strange that there is a viable system of inappropriately lenient sentences in the Crown Court, which the public can ask the Attorney General to examine.”

“However, there is nothing that can assist a citizen who has been the victim of what may be very serious physical injury or sexual abuse, or an interested party, to make a formal application for judgment in the district court.”

Edwards, who was chosen by the company to announce the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the nation, sent £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 “move on” when he asked him if he wanted “indecent images and videos” of a person described as “young”.

The court found that the majority of the 41 indecent images viewed by Edwards were of children aged between 13 and 15.

But in a video sent to the BBC presenter, the abused child was between seven and nine years old.