The 62-year-old, who was surrounded by photographers as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court wearing a dark blue suit, blue tie, and dark sunglasses, admitted committing three offences between December 2020 and August 2021.

Stood in the dock he looked slightly shocked when the first charge was put to him before pleading guilty.

Edwards would have been sacked over 'abhorrent' images of children, BBC says

He had 41 photographs - seven category A images, 12 category B pictures, and 22 category C - on the messaging app WhatsApp.

The category A images - the most serious kind - were mostly of children aged 13 to 15, the court heard.

But there were two moving images of a young child, possibly aged between seven and nine years old, according to prosecutors.

WhatsApp chat

The court heard that Edwards had been involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and April 2022.

The man sent Edwards 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children. The bulk of these - 36 images - were sent during a two-month period.

The final indecent image was sent in August 2021, a category A film featuring a young boy.

The man told Edwards the boy looked quite young, and that he had more images which were illegal.

He asked whether those featured in the images he was sending were too young, in response to which Edwards told him not to send anything illegal, the court heard.

No more were sent, and the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.

Edwards' defence lawyer Philip Evans KC said there was no suggestion the former newsreader had made or created any of the images and that the images were only in his WhatsApp.

He said Edwards, who was arrested in November last year and charged on 26 June, did not keep or send images and did not solicit images from anywhere else.

"There's no suggestion in this case that Mr Edwards has... in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any sort," he said.

"It is important also to remember for context that devices, Mr Edwards' devices, have been seized, have been searched, and there's nothing in those devices.

"It is only the images that are the subject of the charges that came via a WhatsApp chat.

"Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else, and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else."

As Edwards left the central London court, protesters outside shouted "repent".

An NSPCC spokesperson said: "Online child sexual abuse offences can have a devastating impact on victims and we should be in no doubt about the seriousness of Edwards' crimes."

The Internet Watch Foundation said "this is criminal material" for which "there can be no excuse".

What does 'making' images mean?

According to the CPS, the term "making" can include opening, accessing, downloading and storing the content, or receiving an image via social media, even if unsolicited and even if part of a group.

Category A images are the most serious and include penetrative sexual activity and sexual activity with an animal or sadism, while category B images involve non-penetrative sexual activity.

Category C means the images do not fall into categories A or B and do not depict any sexual activity.

Earlier investigation

Edwards was one of the BBC's highest-profile presenters before he resigned in April. The BBC said the decision was made "on medical advice".

The broadcaster's resignation came after he faced separate claims of paying a teenager thousands of pounds for sexually explicit pictures.

Five days after the claims were published in The Sun newspaper, the Metropolitan Police said it would not be taking any further action as it did not believe any criminal activity had taken place.

Following the publication of the claims, Edwards' wife said in a statement released at the time that he was "suffering from serious mental health issues" and was "receiving in-patient hospital care".

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Edwards previously fronted the BBC's News At Ten for 20 years and anchored coverage of major national events, including announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II and covering her funeral.

He was previously the BBC's highest-paid newsreader, with a pay bracket between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24 for 160 presenting days, BBC One news specials, election specials and other TV programming, according to the corporation's latest annual report.

Edwards will be sentenced on 16 September.