Peter Wilby, former editor of the Independent on Sunday and later the New Statesman, has been sentenced for making indecent images of children. He admitted three charges, and was given a 10-month sentence suspended for two years at Chelmsford Crown Court. Police found 167 indecent images, 137 of which were Category A.
Wilby was editor of the Independent on Sunday from 1996 to 1996. He then became New Statesman editor 1998, until 2005. His most recent byline in the New Statesman was on 2nd November 2022… despite being arrested in October.
Adam Sprague, operations manager at the National Crime Agency, said:
“The material accessed by Wilby and recovered from his computer showed real children being cruelly and sexually abused. He was viewing this content while working as the editor of prominent national news outlets, a role in which he was entrusted to form the news agenda for the British public. A trust which he has greatly betrayed.”
Wilby admitted to viewing abuse material since the 1990s. He publicly professed to being a feminist. Vile.
UPDATE: The New Statesman has issued a statement.
