2 years ago
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Image source, PA Media
Alex Belfield was convicted of four charges following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court
A former BBC radio presenter found guilty of stalking four people including broadcaster Jeremy Vine has been jailed for five and a half years.
Alex Belfield, who now runs a YouTube channel, stalked his victims by harassing them online.
His trial heard he made YouTube videos about them, posted messages on social media, and also encouraged his followers to target them.
The judge said one of his victims was "seconds away" from killing himself.
Belfield, who is 42 and from Nottingham, was originally charged with stalking eight different people, who were mostly current or former BBC staff.
The full wording of the charges stated he "pursued a course of conduct that amounted to harassment" of the complainants, which "amounted to stalking" and caused them "serious alarm or distress".
He was found guilty of this offence in relation to two of the complainants - BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Spedding, who is known as Bernie Keith, and videographer Ben Hewis.
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.
The verdicts in relation to each complainant were:
- Rozina Breen - not guilty
- Liz Green - not guilty
- Helen Thomas - not guilty
- Stephanie Hirst - not guilty
- Bernard Spedding - guilty (majority verdict)
- Ben Hewis - guilty (unanimous 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)
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