Online posts misleadingly compare U.K. riot jail terms to Huw Edwards' sentence

Context

On September 16, former BBC News presenter Huw Edwards was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting to charges of accessing indecent images of children. 

After Edwards was sentenced, online users shared misleading posts comparing his punishment with people convicted after the riots across the U.K. in late July and early August (examples archived here, here, and here). 

For example, some online users shared a pair of images of two people with the text, "Jack Fowler – 2 years Waving a flag at a riot! Huw Edwards – No Jail Making Indecent Images of Children" (archived here).

Some online users shared a similar pair of images with the text, "On the left: Bradley McCarthy, sentenced to 20 months in prison for shouting at a police dog. On the right: Huw Edwards, received 6 months suspended sentence for being a paedophile" (archived here). The X post has 1.6 million views.

However, Logically Facts found that the posts ignore important context. 

In fact

Jack Fowler, Bradley McCarthy, and Huw Edwards were all charged and sentenced for different offenses governed by separate legislation. 

Fowler and McCarthy pleaded guilty to violent disorder under the Public Order Act 1986. Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of underaged persons under the Protection of Children Act. He admitted having 41 indecent images of children, which were sent to him on WhatsApp. 

Indecent image offenses have a statutory maximum of five years imprisonment, but a suspended sentence is a common verdict for such crimes. The suspended sentence means that Edwards will not go to jail unless he commits another offense within the sentence period. 

In his sentencing remarks, Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring found that Edwards does not "present a risk or danger to the public at large and specifically children." Goldspring also considered multiple personal mitigating factors, such as no previous convictions, remorse, and a certified mental disorder, to justify Edwards' lesser sentence. 

The context of the cases is also different. Fowler and McCarthy were convicted for their actions during riots, while Edwards' case is unrelated to unrest. 

Jack Fowler pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was not jailed for waiving a flag

Jack Fowler pleaded guilty to violent disorder before magistrates in South Tyneside on August 12, Northumbria Police reported. He was sentenced to two years in prison. 

Bradley McCarthy was not jailed just for shouting at a police dog

Bradley McCarthy was jailed for 20 months at the Bristol Crown Court after pleading guilty to violent disorder at Castle Park on August 3.

According to Avon and Somerset Police, McCarthy threatened counter-protesters and was racially abusive. When asked to leave, McCarthy shouted at police officers and the police dogs.

Logically Facts has previously covered similar misleading and false claims related to jail sentences after the riots. Some of the claims attempt to demonstrate the existence of two-tier policing in the U.K.

The verdict

The online posts omit necessary context. Both Jack Fowler and Bradley McCarthy were jailed after pleading guilty to violent disorder during the U.K. riots, not just for waving a flag or shouting at a police dog, respectively. Therefore, we marked the claim as misleading.