To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Another BBC radio presenter, a transgender woman called Stephanie Hirst, became Belfields next target after refusing him an interview after her transition. Bernard Spedding ignored every single correspondence. (The person to be protected does not have to have been the victim of the acts mentioned above. His trial heard he made YouTube videos about them, posted messages on social media, sent emails, and also encouraged his followers to target them. Jurors deliberated for 14 hours and 27 minutes before reaching their verdicts, following a four-week trial that began on 5 July. One of the alleged victims - TV and radio presenter Jeremy Vine (pictured arriving at Nottingham Crown Court) - told the trial last week that 42-year-old Belfield is 'the Jimmy Savile of trolling'. Alex Belfield was labelled 'the Jimmy Savile of trolling' during the trial, Subscribe today to get the latest Northants headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates. But when Aubrey caught Covid, Vine opted to be questioned by Belfield rather than delay a long-booked holiday, and found himself being asked about the true meaning of the word cunt. Moslimin, unser einzig logische weiters beste arabische & muslimische Online dating-, Ehe- und Freundschaftsseite ihr Erde Selbige Moslimin-Webseite fur jedes Relationships weiters Hochzeit wird hinein mehreren Sprachen zuganglich unter anderem hundred% kostenlos Unter unserer Seite Moslimin wird parece nun erdenklich, Ihren zukunftigen Ehemann und Ihre zukunftige Angetraute inside mehreren . "Bearing in mind the need for an overall proportionate sentence and the principle of totality, I am not satisfied that my final overall sentence of five years and 26 weeks would have been substantially higher had I been made aware of the correct legal position on count 5 [the charge relating to Bernie Keith].". Never miss a crime story with our free email updates. Each of them suffered serious mental health problems arising from Mr Belfields conduct, he said, imposing indefinite restraining orders preventing Belfield from contacting the women. His planned appeal has now been mentioned in court by the trial judge, at a hearing which related to an error made when Belfield was sentenced. "He had no escape from you," the judge told Belfield. 0
Bernard Spedding - guilty (majority verdict), Philip Dehany - not guilty to the charge on the indictment but guilty of the alternative charge of "simple" stalking (majority verdict), Jeremy Vine - not guilty to the charge on the indictment but guilty of the alternative charge of "simple" stalking (unanimous verdict). Member of the public 'donates' hand grenade to D-Day museum Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. It didnt work. Prosecutors allege that Alex Belfield caused alarm and distress to eight victims after his contract with BBC Radio Leeds was not renewed in 2011. . We also want to learn from this to ensure we offer the best possible support to all colleagues, who may sadly experience the threat and risks of online stalking in the future., Last Friday, the four BBC women received an email saying the BBC had commissioned an internal review to establish what lessons can be learned from the recent criminal case. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Addressing the jury in the third week of the trial, Mr Keith said Belfield's YouTube videos, emails and social media messages had included highly abusive language and a threat to 'hound you for the rest of your life'. Rozina Breen, the corporation's former Head of North, told . The morning of his sentencing, Belfield had sat silent in the dock at Nottingham crown court as barrister David Aubrey KC finally mitigated on his behalf. Very soon after Vine complained, by contrast, the BBC appointed a QC to conduct its own investigation into Belfields behaviour, which it handed to Nottinghamshire police. Read about our approach to external linking. But some of the complainants feel they never really got justice. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. A "cruel" former BBC local radio presenter who stalked broadcasters including TV's Jeremy Vine and BBC Northampton 's Bernie Keith has been jailed for more than five years. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. Alex Belfields online harassment made life misery for BBC presenters Jeremy Vine, Liz Green and many others. Why do the four women involved feel let down? Also speaking during the trial, describing watching Belfields video output as like swimming in sewage, Mr Vine said: It felt like I had a fish hook in my face and my flesh was being torn, and the only way to avoid further pain was to stay completely still.. Stephanie Hirst presented a show at the station after he left, in the same time slot. Alex Belfield, who now runs a YouTube channel, stalked his victims by harassing them online. Former BBC DJ Alex Belfield has been discovered responsible of the relentless stalking of different broadcasters, together with Jeremy Vine, who he Trending 'La Brea' Season 2 Trailer Goes EVEN DEEPER. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Thats when Rozina Breen, then the managing editor at BBC Radio Leeds, decided to take what she thought was a calculated chance. After his first arrest, in June 2020, he started two crowdfunders to raise money to sue first the BBC and then Nottinghamshire police. After 6 months the BBC REFUSE to defend Bernie Keith and deny he sent it after 100+ emails. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Alex Belfield is currently in prison after being convicted of stalking four men, Belfield made videos throughout his trial and posted them on YouTube. He took photos of Hewiss wife and young child from social media and included them in his videos, even using a picture of a foetal scan showing Hewiss unborn baby as part of his relentless email campaign of harassment. The judge explained he did not question the verdicts of the jurors, but was applying the civil standard of proof when making the restraining orders. Alex Belfield was born in . I can tell you now their proposed review will not claim responsibility nor say sorry. Weve presented the BBC and RPCs Nicola Cain (now left the case as Bernies lawyer) with indisputable evidence that we believe BBC Northamptons Bernie Keith wrote this unprovoked attack. Belfield currently hosts the Voice of Reason YouTube channel, which has over 372,000 subscribers. On Count 5 you were convicted of stalking Mr Bernard Spedding - known professionally as Bernie Keith. He will be even more unbearable, she said in an Instagram video, with a twinkle in her eye that suggested she can hardly wait. I think the jury thought: Oh, it cant have been that bad. She says Belfield has destroyed her mental health, and that she was so frightened that he or his followers would turn up at her house, she spent 20,000 on security measures. The judge said Belfield "bombarded" Mr Spedding - who had previously been friends with Belfield - with Facebook messages and emails, and made "highly abusive" YouTube videos containing false allegations. Keith Elliot Greenberg Interview The Day John Lennon Died, Keith Chegwin Exclusive 2015 Interview Celebrity Big Brother. He hated the thing he loved, or hated other people having success within it.. READ MORE:Jury's verdicts delivered in stalking trial of ex-BBC presenter Alex Belfield. Giving evidence in court, Vine said: I have in the past had a physical stalker who followed me. Within days, 15,000 people had signed a Free Alex Belfield petition and Hopkins was on Instagram mocking Belfields targets for whining about simple hurty words. Alex Belfield, a former BBC presenter, appears at Nottingham Crown Court, on 12 counts of stalking on July 29, 2021. Belfield was also convicted of the simple stalking of theatre blogger Philip Dehany, who suffered a vicious campaign of abuse. "Blocking was also a futile exercise as Belfield continued to seek out new ways to get to me when others failed. . 203 Adams Ave. Eufaula, OK 74432 what is kip holden doing now A wacky array of clothing Belfield arrives at court in August. For just over three minutes, the 42-year-old delivered a monologue in which he said he was in prison for simply defending himself. When sentencing Belfield, Mr Justice Saini told him: 'Your offences are so serious, only a custodial sentence can be justified.'. His aim was, in his own words, to haunt his victims, and he deployed his army of followers to pile on with abusive messages to those targeted, said Mr Justice Saini. Belfield, who has 361,000 followers on his YouTube channel, The Voice Of Reason, and 43,000 on Twitter, directed his attacks via social media in highly negative and often abusive terms, the judge said. For other inquiries, Contact Us. In December 2011, Belfield made his debut on BBC Radio 2 with Jimmy Savile's "last in-depth interview", recorded at Savile's Leeds home in February that year. 'The counselling didn't work for me - I had never had counselling before and I found it very difficult, very alien.'. We cover what people are talking about every day and celebrate the very best that this incredible part of the world has to offer. Ben Hewis is perverting the course of justice. Would they ever truly be able to escape the man Vine described as an Olympic-level stalker? Prosecutors claimed Belfield subjected Vine to a relentless online campaign that included a wave of personal and unpleasant attacks on YouTube,TwitterandFacebookover an 11-month period. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Judge tells Alex Belfield to expect jail over nine-year 'campaign of harassment' The women were told: The aim of the review is to provide recommendations to the BBC on how it can best support colleagues facing online stalking or significant social media harassment.. Alex Belfield arriving at Nottingham Crown Court on the day of his sentencing. Heres Celebrity Radios BBC Bernie Keith & Ben Hewis STATEMENT. Read about our approach to external linking. 603 0 obj
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Worse, in 2013, a few years into Belfields campaign against her and Breen, the BBCs HR team chose to launch an investigation not into their harassment, but into whether they were guilty of bullying Belfield. "I had this naked hate being piled on me every day and I had to be funny and I had to entertain people," he said. In relation to Jeremy Vine and theatre blogger Philip Dehany, he was found guilty of two lesser offences of "simple" stalking, which does not require serious alarm or distress to be proved. That all stopped in February this year when YouTube suspended monetisation on Belfields Voice of Reason for violating its creator policy, after a negative article in the Times about high-earning conspiracy theorists. Instead, he made YouTube videos about them, posted messages on social media, and sent emails either to them or about them. y the time Belfield began tormenting Dehany in 2020 he had become a successful YouTuber who could have been earning up to 528,000 a year, according to Social Blade, a website that monitors social media channels. %%EOF
Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this article! Labour MP Barry Sheerman is calling for an independent inquiry into how the BBC treated female staff who were harassed online by Belfield. We have no choice but to take action against The Stagey Blog too. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. Even after YouTube stopped him making money from his channel, Belfield was still reasonably flush. How much money Belfield made in recent years is unclear. The judge said one of his victims came close to killing himself. Belfields final BBC target was Vine, who made the mistake of responding after learning that Belfield had called him and fellow broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire cunts online. Despite later coming out as a member of the LGBT community when defending himself against allegations of homophobia in his trial, Belfield attempted to project an image of rampant heterosexuality for much of his life, with frequent references to breasticles and the current or future Mrs Belfield. "You were not a whistleblower in any sense but developed a fixation with pursuing Mr Vine with a campaign of abuse," the judge said. The judge described Mr Dehanys mother as robust for the way she dealt calmly with Belfield, telling her: Everybody needs a mother like you. Mr Justice Saini said: It was an outrageous and cruel act to call her and make a recording, which Belfield later used as content on his channel. I am offensive My human right allows me to speak words that are not to everyones taste, he told the jury. Peers in show business blocked me including @BazBam (#1 print journo) calling me abhorrent in reply to the Hewis published LIES. Prosecutors allege that Belfield, who hosts a radio channel on YouTube, waged a relentless nine-year campaign of stalking against eight victims, including ex-colleagues, after BBC Radio Leeds did not renew his contract in 2011. If you can help with mounting legal costs please email alex@alexbelfield.co.uk, Uploaded by Alex Belfield at Celebrity Radio 13th March 2020. I had gone to the police to make it stop and it was just getting worse. All he had done, he suggested, was challenge people who had said things I believed to be untrue. 6 months later Ben Hewis REFUSES to release the email. A former BBC radio presenter found guilty of stalking four people including broadcaster Jeremy Vine has been jailed for five and a half years. It was on that channel that he first broadcast highly partisan court reports from his own trial, later posted to YouTube and still available to view, after persuading the judge that he was a journalist and should be given the same rights as the Nottingham Post. Green says she is deeply disappointed that the BBC did not commission an independent inquiry. The judge, Mr Justice Saini, granted Belfield bail and told him to return to Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing next month. Ex-BBC presenter Alex Belfield's campaign of harassment had left Northampton's Bernie Keith just seconds away from suicide. One of the BBC targets was Bernie Keith, a veteran presenter at BBC Radio Northampton who was once Belfield's friend. Why did it take so long to bring him to justice? Similar orders in favour of four other individuals the BBCs former head of the north Rozina Breen, former BBC Radio Leeds presenters Liz Green and Stephanie Hirst, and BBC executive Helen Thomas were also made. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. After being sacked from BBC Radio Leeds, Belfield had to move back to live with his mother in Nottinghamshire and found it difficult to get regular radio work. With an international audience via YouTube - Celebrity Radio continues to grow. YouTuber Alex Belfield is planning to appeal against his prison sentence for stalking four men online. alex belfield wife name. Belfield compared his treatment with that of a police officer who had escaped jail despite being convicted of possessing child abuse images. Although jurors found Belfield not guilty of stalking Liz Green, Rozina Breen, Helen Thomas and Stephanie Hirst, Mr Justice Saini said Belfield had harassed them, and he made restraining orders to protect them in future. READ MORE: The cinemas in Northamptonshire showing the Queen's funeral on Monday for free, Jurors accepted Belfield caused serious alarm or distress to two victims and found him guilty of simple stalking in relation to Channel 5 and BBC Radio 2 presenter Mr Vine and theatre blogger Philip Dehany. ): They boast glorious ocean views, but swathes of homes along America's coastlines are at risk of tumbling off CLIFFS due to erosion, rising sea levels and extreme weather events, Are YOU guilty of these gym sins? hen Alex Belfield was sent to prison for five and a half years last month for online stalking, his accusers cried with relief. Belfield showed no emotion and wrote on a piece of paper as verdicts were delivered. Silence was the best policy in the eyes of the corporation. Green still works for the BBC but is trying to negotiate a settlement to leave. How many people signed up for 1 a week is unclear, though some live streams attracted barely 300 viewers. It was lockdown that offered Belfield an opportunity to make some proper money. 'Because of the tsunami of hate and threats that were coming in to me, we had to have someone else sat in the building with me.'. The BBC turned a blind eye to the abuse, says Green: We were not heard. During the trial, Mr Keith told the court he was left feeling suicidal by a tsunami of hate from Alex Belfield. Belfield, 42, showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered. Then, during a broadcast at Leeds Playhouse, he asked an elderly lady what colour knickers she was wearing, resulting in the theatre boycotting the station. Mr Justice Saini said Belfield developed a fixation in pursuing Mr Vine with a campaign of abuse, with the broadcaster having to warn his wife and children to watch out for the defendant, especially after his home address was published by his followers. The court heard the original application was amended to add two more people who did not form part of the criminal trial. - a disco for people who want to dance to songs they know from backalong but have nowhere to go. hbbd```b``"H %&jv`8Z`` Hy |AAg%@ !CI
He was convicted Friday, August 5, 2022, on four counts of stalking. In his closing speech to jurors at Nottingham Crown Court, Belfield said he had a right to freedom of speech, and some of the communications were in his role as a journalist, holding the BBC to account. is an English professional association football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.The club was formed in the late 1870s and in 1884 they took the name Burslem Port Vale, dropping the 'Burslem' prefix in 1907. Alex Belfield has been jailed on four stalking charges (Picture: SWNS / PA) . That he was allowed to play court reporter upset many complainants, particularly as Belfield decided not to give evidence under oath.