Lewis Edwards: How paedophile police officer – with victims as young as 10 – was brought to justice
Lewis Edwards blackmailed young girls into sending him indecent images of themselves.
For the vast majority of that time, he was a serving officer with South Wales Police.
His 210 victims were all aged between 10 and 16 years old – and Edwards has now been handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 12 years.
The team who led the investigation into his crimes say there are many more victims they are yet to identify.
Pic: South Wales Police
Detective Superintendent Tracy Rankine told Sky News that Edwards “didn’t assist at all with this investigation”.
She said: “The way that he had his devices and his computer networked, if you were to just simply unplug it and take it away, it had a degree of encryption on it, so it would have wiped it.
“We had to make sure that when we recovered the evidence, we did so at the scene and the experts built the appropriate software to enable us to download the material then and there so we didn’t risk losing anything.”
Ms Rankine said Edwards had a “directory of folders that had numbers next to it”.
“We were very easily able to see that the number related to an age profile and the images within that folder, so the way that things were recorded was really quite organised,” she added.
Lucy Dowdall, a specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service’s organised child sexual abuse unit, told Sky News that Edwards is “an extremely manipulative person”.
“He relied heavily on the embarrassment and fear of his vulnerable victims to ensure that they would not report to anybody as to what had happened,” she said.
“As a police officer, there would be a position of trust as with anybody who holds such a position of responsibility.
“But anybody who deliberately targets vulnerable children is abusing some level of position and it’s important that they’re all brought to justice.”
Cardiff Crown Court
‘I have my GCSE tomorrow’
During the three-day sentencing hearing, Cardiff Crown Court heard powerful testimony from some of Edwards’s victims.
Such was the nature of the case that the prosecution was, at one stage, close to tears.
Edwards’s youngest victim was 10 years old.
One girl begged Edwards to stop demanding indecent images and videos of her.
“Please can you stop, I have my GCSE tomorrow morning, please, I’m begging you,” she told him.
In a victim impact statement read out on their behalf, the girl’s parents said their daughter now experiences “full-blown panic attacks that can be triggered by quite small things”.
The court heard how another of the victims told her father about what Edwards had been asking of her.
He took his daughter’s phone and sent Edwards a message saying, “This is [the girl’s] dad. Stop now. What you are doing is illegal.”
Edwards replied: “Lol.”
Her mother said there were “many occasions when I know she contemplated suicide”.
“She was too scared to miss a message in fear of what he would do,” she said.
The mum said she could “only conclude that Lewis Edwards is a very broken human being”.
Only one of Edwards’s victims dates back to before his period as an officer at South Wales Police.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.
Two children and a woman have died in a shooting in County Fermanagh, police have said.
Two people were killed in the shooting on Wednesday morning, and a third, who was seriously injured, died in hospital in the afternoon.
A fourth person, a man, was seriously injured in the shooting in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
All victims were from the same household, Superintendent Robert McGowan, district commander for Fermanagh and Omagh, said at a news conference.
Police have cordoned off the scene in the village of Maguiresbridge, about 75 miles (120km) southwest of Belfast.
“We can advise there is no ongoing risk to the public,” a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesperson said.
There was no mention of a motive behind the shooting.
The scene in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wir
A murder investigation has been launched, with enquiries being at an early stage.
Supt McGowan said at the news conference that police don’t anticipate any arrests being made at this stage.
Emergency services were called to the Drummeer Road area of the village at around 8am on Wednesday following a report raised from the property, Supt McGowan said.
Two people were found dead at the scene, and two others seriously injured.
One patient was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, by air ambulance and the other to South West Acute Hospital by ambulance. Supt McGowan said the third person died at the South West Acute Hospital.
Drummeer Road is currently closed, police said, warning that this could lead to delays on alternative roads.
Drummeer Road has been cordoned off. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wir
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said: “The news from Maguiresbridge is tragic and deeply distressing.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the local community in Fermanagh. I would urge the public not to speculate and to allow the PSNI to continue their investigation.”
Sinn Fein MP Pat Cullen has expressed her deep shock over the shooting, saying: “Firstly, my thoughts are with the victims and their families at this tragic time.”
Read more from Sky News:
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DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who represents the area in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said that the community was “stunned” by the shooting in “a rural, quiet area”.
“Everyone is deeply affected by what has happened this morning,” she said.
Five “violent” and “dangerous” gang members have been found guilty of murdering a boy and a young man at a music video shoot in a north London estate.
The men had gone to the Elthorne Estate in Archway “with the intention of killing anyone they could”, the Metropolitan Police said.
And the group mistook those they attacked for rival gang members.
Lorik Lupqi, 21; Jason Furtado, 28; Abel Chunda, 29; Xavier Poponne, 22; and Eden Clark, 31, were convicted of murdering 15-year-old Leonardo Reid and 23-year-old Klevi Shekaj and attempting to murder 28-year-old Abdullah Abdullahi.
(L-R) Xavier Poponne, Lorik Lupqi and Abel Chunda. Pic: Met Police
Leonardo and Mr Shekaj were fatally stabbed and Mr Abdullahi was badly hurt when knifemen descended on the event on the night of 29 June 2023.
Leonardo and his brother had been watching a music video being filmed with friends.
Police said Lupqi, a gang member from Islington, saw the gathering at around 8.30pm and took it as an opportunity to hurt those he thought were gang opponents.
He messaged his girlfriend stating that “opps were outside”. She advised him to remain inside, but Lupqi decided to contact his close friend and gang associate Jason Furtado.
They formed a plan and recruited gang members Chunda, Clark and Poponne to travel to the estate.
Lupqi had booked a taxi to pick up the three men from the area of Furtado’s home address in Canonbury, north London, telling the cab firm: “I’m in a little bit of a rush,” the jury heard.
They had worn masks and were armed as they went to the Elthorne Estate where they met Lupqi, the court was told.
(L-R) Jason Furtado and Eden Clark. Pic: Met Police/PA
By the time they arrived, the filming had ended, and most people had left, but some local children and teenagers remained in the area.
The group then carried out their deadly attack.
The alarm was raised as a black-clad figure wearing a balaclava was spotted crouching down and moving towards Leonardo, his brother and others, with a large knife.
Three more males in black stood up from where they had been hiding behind cars as they edged towards the group, the court was told.
Leonardo was stabbed in the chest, with the wound cutting through his left lung and one of the major blood vessels in his body, causing fatal blood loss.
Leonardo’s brother had run away from the scene but later looped back and saw his sibling lying motionless on the ground, the court heard.
Mr Shekaj was stabbed in the back, with the wound cutting through his left lung and deep into his body.
He was driven to Whittington Hospital by members of the public but he died on arrival.
Read more from Sky News:
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Detective Inspector Jim Barry said: “These violent men went into this estate with the intention of killing anyone they could, under the false impression that those there were rival gang members.
“This was a senseless, violent act which has shattered the lives of so many, especially Leonardo and Klevi’s loved ones.
“This dangerous group of men will now spend a long time behind bars but the effect of what they did will be felt by the victim’s shattered families for longer.”
The five killers will appear at the same court on 25 and 26 September for sentencing.
A third person has died in a shooting in Co Fermanagh, police have said.
Two people were killed in the shooting on Wednesday morning, and a third, who was seriously injured, died in the afternoon.
A fourth person was seriously injured in the shooting in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
All victims were from the same household, Superintendent Robert McGowan, District Commander for Fermanagh and Omagh, said at a news conference.
They have cordoned off the scene in the village of Maguiresbridge, about 75 miles (120km) southwest of Belfast.
“We can advise there is no ongoing risk to the public,” a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesperson said.
There was no mention of a motive behind the shooting.
The scene in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wir
A murder investigation has been launched.
Supt McGowan said at the news conference that police don’t anticipate any arrests to be made at this stage.
Emergency services were called to the shooting in the Drummeer Road area of the village at around 8am on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said.
They confirmed that two people had been injured.
“Following assessment and initial treatment at scene, one patient has been taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, by air ambulance and another to South West Acute Hospital by ambulance,” the spokesperson added.
Drummeer Road is currently closed, police said, warning that this could lead to delays on alternative roads.
Drummeer Road has been cordoned off. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wir
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said: “The news from Maguiresbridge is tragic and deeply distressing.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the local community in Fermanagh. I would urge the public not to speculate and to allow the PSNI to continue their investigation.”
Sinn Fein MP Pat Cullen has expressed her deep shock over the shooting, saying: “Firstly, my thoughts are with the victims and their families at this tragic time.”
Read more from Sky News:
Jailed traders’ convictions overturned
Family tribute after death of teenager
DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who represents the area in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said that the community was “stunned” by the shooting in “a rural, quiet area.”
“Everyone is deeply affected by what has happened this morning,” she said.
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