The BBC have been urged to demand their salary back from Huw Edwards after the disgraced newsreader was given a six month sentence, suspended for two years.
Edwards pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children, and will be placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
However, the sentencing has sparked calls for the former presenter to hand back the salary he was paid whilst suspended by the BBC, an estimated £200,000.
Edwards was formerly the highest paid journalist at the broadcasting giant, earning almost half a million pounds a year before his arrest in November 2023.
Edwards is facing widespread calls to pay back the salary he received from the BBC whilst suspended by the broadcaster
GB News/ PA
Reacting to the sentencing on GB News, former Head of Religion and Ethics at the BBC Aaqil Ahmed claimed that Edwards should hand back the money paid to him, and encouraged the BBC to go through a "legal process" in order to obtain the salary.
Ahmed said: "On a personal level, I think he should give it back. I think the BBC have got to go through a legal process to try and get the money out of him. And you've got to ask him first, but the likelihood is he's not going to give it back, is he?
"I think he should give the money back, I don't think he's behaved properly. The BBC didn't know everything at the beginning - you can't not pay somebody when they're suspended, during the investigation. There's all sorts of legal issues, but they're right to ask for that money back, and I'm sure they are taking a lot of legal advice."
When asked by host Patrick Christys on Ahmed's professional relationship with Edwards, the former BBC employee revealed that they worked together previously, and the case surrounding him was a "shock".
Edwards left Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday after being handed his suspended sentence
PA
Ahmed recalled: "I've got to be honest with you, it was a shock. I mean, I'm not going to lie and say I was his best friend, but we did work together.
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"He presented things like Songs of Praise, but on a personal level, we worked very closely together. When we ran the religious coverage of the Pope's visit when the Pope came over to Scotland and England, Huw was the face of those live broadcasts.
"We talked about really trivial things, like cycling and suits, or talked about work. I saw him in action and he was a brilliant presenter, and that's what makes it even harder."
Highlighting the impact Huw had on the BBC in broadcasting major events such as the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II's death, Ahmed admitted that it will be "very tough" to cut him out of historic broadcasts.
Turning the discussion to historic scandals with other BBC figures such as Jimmy Savile, Patrick quizzed Ahmed on whether he believes the broadcaster "protected" Edwards, which the former employee was quick to deny.
Former BBC colleague Aaqil Ahmed urged the BBC to ask Edwards for the salary back that they paid him
GB News
Ahmed said: "I don't think that was the case. What you've got to remember, there's a huge distance in terms of time between Jimmy Savile and things like this, and there's a big difference in his behaviour as well.
"Jimmy Saville was just ridiculous and outrageous. And it's not just the BBC, it's across the whole industry - we saw it with Phillip Schofield and we've seen it with other alleged stories like Russell Brand.
"There's a whole thing here about people who have authority and power and that kind of imbalance, and people may let them get away with stuff because they think they're a talent, or people are scared to say anything because they think that their career could be affected."
In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: "We are appalled by his crimes. He's betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him."