WhatsApps show how chats between Huw Edwards and paedophile Alex Williams took a dark turn

When university student Alex Williams began connecting with celebrities through social media, it was out of hope rather than expectation.

The 19-year-old from South Wales sent dozens of messages to famous people but – unsurprisingly – received no response.

That was until early 2018. When he contacted Huw Edwards, the BBC newsreader and one of the most famous faces on British television, his inbox pinged with a reply and the two began chatting.

This was the beginning of an exchange of words that would eventually lead to Edwards’ spectacular self-destruction and a suspended sentence for a series of sex crimes against children.

Although Edwards, the proud Welsh newsreader, is one of the BBC’s most trusted voices, he battled hidden demons that ruined his mental health and left him extremely vulnerable, Westminster Magistrates Court heard.

His father, Hywel Teifi Edwards, was born in Bridgend in 1961 and was a well-known Welsh linguist and Plaid Cymru activist.

However, according to a psychiatrist who interviewed Edwards after his arrest, he had a “psychologically challenging” childhood.

The 63-year-old claimed that despite the “praise” he received outside the family, his father behaved “monstrously” at home and that this – combined with the “puritanical” but “hypocritical” culture of the South Welsh community – left him with “low self-esteem”.

He claimed that his situation was made even worse when he was not accepted into Oxford and had to settle for Cardiff University instead.