Ex-No.10 comms chief jailed for phone hacking now advising Huw Edwards’s family

Andy Coulson was jailed in 2014 after being found guilty of conspiracy to hack a murdered schoolgirl's phone.

Huw Edwards’s family is reportedly receiving crisis management advice from Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who was jailed for phone hacking.

Coulson, who previously served as David Cameron’s Downing Street director of communications, now runs a PR agency that specialises in crisis management for high-profile individuals.

The former comms chief- who was jailed in 2014 for conspiring to intercept voicemails at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid- is understood to have assisted Huw Edwards’s wife Vicky Flind issue a statement on Wednesday in which she named her husband as the figure at the centre of the BBC scandal.

Flind, who has five children with the BBC star and works as a producer on ITV’s politics show, reportedly reached out to Coulson for support following allegations that her husband had paid £35,000 for inappropriate pictures from a teenage user of crack cocaine.

She garnered widespread sympathy for her 200-word statement, in which she revealed her husband was experiencing ‘serious mental health issues’ following the allegations and appealed for privacy while he received in-patient hospital care due to a recent bout of depression.

Following the statement, The Sun announced that it would refrain from publishing any additional accusations concerning Edwards and would instead pass the existing claims they possess over to the BBC for further investigation.

Edwards has not publicly responded to any of the allegations against him and it is unknown whether he is in contact with Coulson, but he is believed to have spoken privately on the matter with colleagues and former colleagues.

The extent of Coulson’s attempt to influence The Sun’s coverage of the scandal remains uncertain. However, his involvement in the case places him in opposition to former associates at Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, notably Rebekah Brooks, the company’s chief executive, and Coulson’s former romantic partner.

The pair were tried together at a high-profile trial at the Old Bailey in 2014, in which a jury found Coulson guilty of conspiracy to hack phones but cleared Brooks of any wrongdoing.

During the trial, Coulson was singled out by the judge for the heaviest punishment, after his involvement in the hacking of the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was described as ‘unforgivable’.

The fallout from the scandal caused Rupert Murdoch to close the News of the World in July 2011 , resulting in the loss of 200 jobs.

Following his release from prison Coulson now operates in the background, helping CEOs and leading public figures navigate crises without his role becoming public.

Edwards meanwhile now faces a long and costly endeavour to salvage his career, as additional allegations of potentially inappropriate conduct, including from colleagues at BBC News, continue to arise.

However, friends of Edwards believe the News at Ten presenter can come back from the claims, and resume his career when his mental health issues recede.

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