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The London Victims’ Commissioner has called for it to be easier to appeal lenient sentences after it emerged the case of Huw Edwards cannot be reviewed.

The disgraced BBC veteran was spared jail on Monday for accessing indecent images of children as young as seven, with the judge handing down a six-month suspended term at Westminster Magistrates Court.

Senior political figures, including Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat, have written to the government’s chief legal adviser urging for a review of the case under the Unduly Lenient Scheme (ULS).

The ULS allows anyone to ask for certain sentences to be looked at by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), who will then refer it to the Court of Appeal if they think it is not tough enough.

However, the scheme only applies to Crown Court sentences – as pointed out by the Victims’ Commissioner for London Claire Waxman.

She said she has long called for this to be changed, so it is more accessible.

“For clarity, the Huw Edwards sentence cannot be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme as it’s only applicable for certain Crown Court sentences. I have lobbied for years to make it more accessible,” Ms Waxman said on X.

“Important to understand the rights of victims.”

According to the AGO, only certain cases heard at the Crown Court, which tries the most serious offences, can be reviewed under the ULS. This includes murder, rape, robbery, and some child sex crimes.

Ms Waxman, who has lobbied for victims to have the same rights as offenders when it comes to appealing sentences, was responding to a letter from Mr Tugendhat to the attorney general saying the Edwards case should be reviewed.

In further comments to Sky News, she said the ULS could be more accessible by being better communicated to victims.

She added: “It is an injustice to them that there is no route to appeal a sentence passed in the Magistrates court when offenders can appeal against their sentence and I am clear that this must be urgently reviewed.

“Together with the Josh Hanson Trust, I have long called for a change to the strict 28-day timeframe within which to make an application to the scheme. It’s simply not right that offenders are able to appeal their sentence outside of this timeframe in exceptional circumstances, but this same entitlement is not provided to victims.”

Mr Tugendhat, the shadow security minister, claimed the former presenter’s sentence appeared “inconsistent” with sentencing guidelines, which recommend custodial sentences for possession of Category A images.

He added that “as a national household name, the country have been shocked by the criminal activities of Mr Edwards”, and they will be looking at the government to “lead by example and ensure that heinous crimes are punished swiftly”.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice made a similar appeal to the attorney general, saying that “serious crime must be punished with serious sentence”.

Read More:
What was Huw Edwards’ defence?
BBC asks Edwards to return £200,000

The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) also expressed concern about the fact Edwards was spared jail, saying it “sends a troubling message to both survivors of abuse and those who exploit children”.

However, legal commentator The Secret Barrister said in a thread on X that Edwards’ sentence was “entirely expected for offences of this type”.

They said the judge will have taken in mitigating factors such as mental health, his low risk of reoffending and his early guilty plea when deciding not to hand down a jail term.

Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of “making” indecent images of children.

The court heard how he paid up to £1,500 to a paedophile who sent him 41 illegal images between December 2020 and August 2021, seven of which were of the most serious type.

Of those images, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was aged between seven and nine.

As part of his sentence, the 63-year-old must attend a sex offender treatment programme and 25 rehabilitation sessions.

He is also required to sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years and pay £3,128 in costs and a victim surcharge.

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BBC waiting for ‘Huw Edwards to return salary’

Delivering his sentence, the judge said Edwards would be “particularly vulnerable” if he was given a custodial sentence, both from attack from others and as a suicide risk.

Edwards’ barrister Philip Evans KC expressed remorse on behalf of the ex-presenter, saying he “recognises the repugnant nature and the hurt done to those who appear” in the images and “for his part in that he apologises sincerely and makes clear he has the utmost regret”.

He also said Edwards recognises he has “betrayed the priceless trust” placed in him, damaged his family and is “truly sorry he’s committed these offences”.

During his four decades at the BBC, Edwards was among the broadcasting teams covering historic events, with his most high-profile moment coming in September 2022, when he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Labour suspends MP Dan Norris after arrest

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Labour suspends MP Dan Norris after arrest

The Labour Party has suspended its MP Dan Norris after “being informed of his arrest”.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his arrest.

“We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.”

Mr Norris defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg to win the new seat of North East Somerset and Hanham in last year’s general election.

He has also lost the party whip in the House of Commons.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

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Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.

The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.

While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.

According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.

Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Source: Web.archive.org

Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.

The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.

Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph

Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.

Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset

Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”

At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.

“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding: 

“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”

However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.

Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension

Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?

In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.

Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan

If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.

Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.

Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’

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Wall Street’s one-day loss tops the entire crypto market cap

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Wall Street’s one-day loss tops the entire crypto market cap

Wall Street’s one-day loss tops the entire crypto market cap

The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.

On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.

Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”

Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.

The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.

“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”

Nasdaq, United States, Stocks

Source: Anthony Scaramucci

On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.

Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.

Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks

Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.

Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.

Nasdaq, United States, Stocks

Source: Jeff Dorman

Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.

Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”

Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

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