Read about our approach to external linking. Breen and Green both think the BBC failed all four women who gave evidence against Belfield. The final two victims who went to court and testified against Belfield were both from the theatre world. Former BBC DJ jailed for stalking Jeremy Vine and others, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Judge tells Alex Belfield to expect jail over nine-year 'campaign of harassment' How many people signed up for 1 a week is unclear, though some live streams attracted barely 300 viewers. 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'. One of the complainants was his former colleague, Liz Green, who also presented a show at the radio station. The judge said he agreed with some of the witnesses in the case, who said Belfield had "weaponised the internet". On Count 5, Belfield, of Mapperley, Nottingham, denies causing serious alarm or distress to Channel 5 and BBC Radio 2 presenter Mr Vine, former BBC Radio Leeds mid-morning show host Stephanie Hirst, Mr Keith and five other people. For other inquiries, Contact Us. 'My initial reaction (to the alleged stalking) was ''He's gone mad'',' Mr Keith said. "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. The relief was temporary. His subscriber count has dropped, but still stands at 354,000. Published: 11:08 EST, 21 July 2022 | Updated: 11:22 EST, 21 July 2022. Feb 8. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Bernie confirms on air they think hes bonkers & loony toons. %PDF-1.7 % He said there was no escape for Belfields victims until bail conditions were imposed ahead of his trial, and agreed with Mr Vines characterisation that the ex-DJ had weaponised the internet against his targets. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Alex Belfield has been jailed for five and a half years. Breen sacked him on the spot, but agreed to honour the last two months of his contract. However, he has also been charged with stalking Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis. At first, he grew his audience with silly sketches and phone-ins, railing against government Covid policy, particularly the ban on care-home visits. Its like an avalanche of hatred that you get hit by., Vine didnt think he had ever even met Belfield, but another former BBC radio presenter, James Hazell, remembers Vine delivering a masterclass to local BBC presenters in 2010. A few weeks after he was sent to jail, most of the 7,000-plus videos Belfield posted on YouTube are still publicly accessible. ', Belfield had made a bogus claim that he had been sacked, Mr Keith said, adding: 'It was all too much. BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Spedding, who is known as Bernie Keith, and videographer . 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. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. He has also been convicted of stalking Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis. \Mb+r'rS~(aU\voP GCK16X0v04p62h,3 0b``f:(x3j=)\-u`IL! Belfield has worked for over 80 radio stations in the UK. For each of these offences he was sentenced to 13 weeks, also to run consecutively. (takes 20 seconds to download full statement plus call to Hewis). The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. He realised what he could do and did it with impunity. Green still works for the BBC but is trying to negotiate a settlement to leave. 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). Unless there are broadcast prohibitions attached to his release, there is nothing to stop Belfield firing up Voice of Reason again when he gets out of jail. A security company had also been brought in to collect him from the radio station's car park, Mr Keith said. Two days have been set aside to hear the application at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on March 7. Philip Dehany, a rival theatre blogger, who was targeted by Belfield in YouTube videos. After 6 months the BBC REFUSE to defend Bernie Keith and deny he sent it after 100+ emails. 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. I can tell you now their proposed review will not claim responsibility nor say sorry. 'In April last year I collapsed at my home and had to be taken to hospital. He also agreed with Mr Vines characterisation that the ex-DJ had weaponised the internet against those he targeted. hen Alex Belfield was sent to prison for five and a half years last month for online stalking, his accusers cried with relief. 578 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<64333CF35435EE40AE1982510F889B77>]/Index[562 42]/Info 561 0 R/Length 90/Prev 190620/Root 563 0 R/Size 604/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream The author identified himself in the screen-grab published by Hewis. It came following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court, during which the . In 2006, he presented the breakfast show on Capital Gold in Birmingham for six weeks, before moving to London to take over the station's networked national late show called The Late Night Revolution. Alex Belfield was convicted of four charges following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court, Belfield was found guilty of "simple" stalking in relation to BBC presenter Jeremy Vine, Belfield was previously a presenter at BBC Radio Leeds, Belfield made videos throughout his trial and posted them on YouTube. Furthermore, Alex was handed two-and-a-half years for the charge concerning BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith and a consecutive two-and-a-half year sentence over the stalking charge . I will refer to him by that name. 100+ emails sent/received from BBC & lawyers no defense of Spedding whatsoever. When blocked on Twitter he used other accounts to see what I was tweeting and routinely publicly mocked me to his social media followers, posting screengrabs he could only have obtained by using an account that I hadn't blocked.". Ms Breen tweeted that she was glad to finally have justice after 10 years. @decotheatre. Belfield, who is 42 and from Nottingham, was originally charged with stalking eight different people, who were mostly current or former BBC staff. The Belfield Green knew at Radio Leeds in 2010 was difficult but he wasnt a table-thumping, immigrant-hating rightwing polemicist, she says. Belfield clearly resented being there, recalls Hazell He was sulking and had a face like thunder. 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. Then in June 2020, Katie Hopkins was permanently banned from Twitter, opening up a gap in the market for anti-woke, anti-immigrant polemics with an English accent. For PR Pros Overview; Media Database . In September 2001 he began his career as a radio host after joining BBC Radio Leicester. 2023 BBC. Belfield had denied stalking the 57-year-old, and seven other alleged victims, claiming he was the subject of a witch hunt. He hated being told how to improve by Jeremy, and thats where I think it all started.. Mr Justice Saini added: "You made communications which had serious impacts on the private lives of the complaints and had distressing effects on their physical and mental health.''. Alex Belfield is convicted of stalking four people online but cleared of stalking four others. Breen says she and others flagged Belfields behaviour repeatedly but were told just not to look at the emails, or to delete them. Finally, respite from what for some had been a decade of near-constant abuse. Ben Hewis refuses to engage with the police and hand over the email. Police inquiry opened Feb 2020 Nottinghamshire Police. There are lessons to learn clearly and the toxic nature of online hate will only get worse for staff. The verdicts in relation to each complainant, in the order they appeared on the indictment, were: In mitigation, barrister David Aubrey KC said Belfield had not intended to cause his victims distress, but could now see that he had. December is a busy month. She was looking for a new presenter to liven up the mid-morning show and thought Belfield, who was working for BBC Hereford and Worcester, was the man for the job. "He was seconds away from taking his own life as a result of your conduct," the judge, Mr Justice Saini, told Belfield. Giving evidence to Nottingham Crown Court under his full name of Bernie Keith Spedding, he said his reputation is 'now in shreds' after 'proclamations of hate' and death threats, which have affected his health. That is why I say your stalking is in many respects more serious than a conventional stalker, the judge said. 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. As Prince Harry says he felt like the film 'the boy in the bubble' before having therapy, who was 12-year-old David Vetter whose tragic story inspired the documentary? Follow us on Facebook here and Twitter here. "Your methods were, however, just as effective as a way of intimidating your victims, and were in many ways much harder to deal with.". Since 2012 Belfield has focused on presenting and producing content for his website Celebrity Radio. Then began a 10-year campaign of harassment against both Breen and Green, as well as Helen Thomas, Breens line manager, who was head of regional and local programming for Yorkshire. He was cleared of stalking charges in relation to the BBC's former head of North Rozina Breen, former BBC Radio Leeds presenters Liz Green and Stephanie Hirst, and former BBC worker Helen Thomas. "Throughout this trial, victims and other witnesses have given evidence with dignity and I would like to thank them for their willingness to give evidence. According to the Institute of Lawfare, lawfare is the misuse and abuse of the law for political, commercial and military ends. It was hard to take any satisfaction from the jailing of this despicable man when he will not serve a single day in jail for what he did to the four Leeds women, he said. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Ex-BBC presenter guilty of stalking broadcasters including Jeremy Vine and Radio Northampton's Bernie Keith. They were exonerated. He is being sued for libel by Vine, as well as by the Nottinghamshire police detective in charge of the case against him, and when ordered to pay Vines initial costs of 26,000 after failing to file a defence on time, paid up, in October 2021, within a few days. MP seeks inquiry over BBC staff harassed online, Harassed women accuse BBC of failing to help them, The stalker who reported on his own trial, My jailed stalker says he'll be back - Jeremy Vine, Former BBC presenter found guilty of stalking, Alleged stalker 'is victim of BBC witch-hunt', Jeremy Vine tells trial of 'avalanche of hatred', BBC boss 'terrified by radio host's stalking', Ex-BBC presenter 'stalked fellow broadcasters', Police appeal after stolen tools recovered, Jacksdale ferret rescue plans much-needed fundraiser, Plans for fast food outlets and a bar outside Motorpoint Arena, Huge solar farm near Gotham and East Leake recommended for approval, Community clean-up aims to improve feeling of safety in Warsop, Hucknall bus window smashed by yob with a brick, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Mr Vine gave evidence against Belfield, of Mapperley, Nottingham, telling jurors: This is not a regular troll here. By 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. 'The counselling didn't work for me - I had never had counselling before and I found it very difficult, very alien.'. Find Alex Belfield of CelebrityRadio.biz's articles, email address, contact information, Twitter and more. Former BBC presenter found guilty of stalking, Alleged stalker 'is victim of BBC witch-hunt', Jeremy Vine tells trial of 'avalanche of hatred', BBC boss 'terrified by radio host's stalking', Ex-BBC presenter 'stalked fellow broadcasters', Police appeal after stolen tools recovered, Jacksdale ferret rescue plans much-needed fundraiser, Plans for fast food outlets and a bar outside Motorpoint Arena, Huge solar farm near Gotham and East Leake recommended for approval, Community clean-up aims to improve feeling of safety in Warsop, Hucknall bus window smashed by yob with a brick, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Green was having none of it: I went up to him and I said: You are a grade-A wanker. She stands by that description, but came to regret making an enemy of someone who turned out to be a herculean grudge-holder. "This was the darkest point of my life because there was no end to it. Alex Belfield arriving at Nottingham Crown Court on the day of his sentencing. It was a risk. Keith Elliot Greenberg Interview The Day John Lennon Died, Keith Chegwin Exclusive 2015 Interview Celebrity Big Brother. Belfield was given a total of five years and 26 weeks in prison, of which he will serve half, on all four charges he was convicted of. Something went wrong, please try again later. Alex Belfield, 42, who "weaponised the internet", . Finally, respite from what for some had been a decade of near-constant abuse. 'Once you sign up, you do what you're told': Duke of Sussex tells trauma expert Gabor Mat 'a lot of us' in the Army 'didn't necessarily agree or disagree' with the West's invasion of Afghanistan but did 'what you're trained to do'. Some believe he relied on others as media monitors and had sources within the BBC itself: he seemed to know everything discussed on each of their radio shows every day, along with a number of internal matters. What will the next pandemic be? How much money Belfield made in recent years is unclear. Alex Belfield and Katie Hopkins in a video on her YouTube channel, advertising the show they did together. Belfield started wearing Trump polo shirts and began campaigning against small boat crossings in the Channel, using a dinghy as a prop for his live shows. YouTuber Alex Belfield is planning to appeal against his prison sentence for stalking four men online. Belfield, 42, subjected four people in a "relentless" campaign of stalking - including broadcaster Jeremy Vine. BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith told the court he was left feeling suicidal by what he called Belfield's "tsunami of hate." Belfield's contract with BBC Radio Leeds ended in 2011. He bought his detached house in Mapperley, Nottingham, for 314,950 in October 2018, and it is mortgaged. Collaborations. "From his very first email and in the majority of communications thereafter, he used my wife and children as his main weapon to terrify, intimidate and blackmail me," he wrote. FORMER BBC radio presenter, Alex Belfield, has been jailed for five and a half years. Sentencing Belfield, the judge said he had made this highly successful and confident radio presenter lose all joy in life and turned him into a shell He was terrified of you. So scared was Keith that he gave neighbours a copy of Belfields photograph, in case he decided to take his campaign of harassment offline. You are entitled to hold and express views but you are not entitled to destroy the personal lives of your victims through online harassment.. I pleaded with him (Belfield) to stop. Ben Hewis is perverting the course of justice. Hopkins believes he will be back, his ego bigger than ever after honing his act in front of a literally captive audience. "There's a good chance of a custodial sentence," he added. The judge did stop him from interrogating complainants, appointing David Aubrey as a proxy advocate. Ben Hewis is perverting the course of justice. 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 . Its not enough to leave us to sink and swim, as we had to in this case, Breen wrote in an email to Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBCs director of nations. 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. The judge told Belfield he will serve up to half of his sentence in prison and the remainder on licence. 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. - a disco for people who want to dance to songs they know from backalong but have nowhere to go. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. Thats when Rozina Breen, then the managing editor at BBC Radio Leeds, decided to take what she thought was a calculated chance. endstream endobj 566 0 obj <>stream During his trial, the court heard from his stalking victims - including BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith. Instead of a lawyer, he was often accompanied by James Brandon, a member of the old-school comedy duo the Grumbleweeds. Yet, he remains unstable and on air at the BBC. "My initial reaction [to the stalking] was 'He's gone mad'," Mr Spedding told the trial. Sometimes these emails included what the judge said were highly offensive and personal comments about their physical appearance, including sexualised comments as well as wholly false allegations that the women had bullied him. The judge said Belfield had made "wholly false" allegations about Mr Vine stealing 1,000 of BBC licence payers' money, in a video which was viewed by more than 400,000 people. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Belfield, a former BBC radio presenter turned YouTube free speech advocate, was deeply sorry for the hurt he had caused, said Aubrey, after Belfield was convicted of stalking Vine and three other men online. Nobody from the corporation has apologised for what I and the others faced for more than a decade.. Our community guidelines prohibit content that threatens individuals and we have removed several videos for violating these policies.. . Prosecutors allege that Alex Belfield caused alarm and distress to eight victims after his contract with BBC Radio Leeds was not renewed in 2011. . Port Vale F.C. Friday Night is our 2nd Handbag Heaven Club Night. The judge made restraining orders in relation to all of the complainants, including those Belfield was not convicted of stalking. Green blames the BBC for the not-guilty verdicts: The reason I believe the court didnt find him guilty on our charges though we will never know what the jury was thinking was because the BBC allowed it to go on for so long. He started his own online show, Celebrity Radio, bagging interviews with famous people in return for advertising plugs, and tried to sell himself as a theatre and restaurant reviewer. The judge said one of his victims came close to killing himself. Peers in show business blocked me including @BazBam (#1 print journo) calling me abhorrent in reply to the Hewis published LIES. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Mr Vine faced a torrent of abuse online, including thousands of social media messages from Belfields followers and personal threats. When sentencing Belfield, Mr Justice Saini told him: 'Your offences are so serious, only a custodial sentence can be justified.'. He presents a YouTube channel called Voice of Reason, which has over 361,000 subscribers. Belfield had harassed this victim, BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernard Spedding, for nine years and some of his followers had sent him death threats. Official YouTube stats show that www . Keith tried in vain to get YouTube to remove all of the libellous videos, even turning up at the social networks HQ to beg it in person. In relation to Jeremy Vine and theatre blogger Philip Dehany, Belfield was found guilty of two lesser offences of "simple" stalking, which does not require serious alarm or distress to be proved. Bernie Keith (pictured) who presents mid-morning shows and a weekly rock 'n' roll programme on BBC Radio Northampton, said former BBC Radio Leeds DJ Alex Belfield had subjected him to 'naked' hatred and false claims, Prosecutors allege that Belfield (pictured arriving at Nottingham Crown Court), 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. Radio Presenter Age And Net Worth. 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