Ex-BBC DJ Alex Belfield has been sentenced to over five years in prison after being found guilty of stalking broadcasters, including TV presenter Jeremy Vine, in a sickening hate campaign.
According to The Mirror, the 42-year-old was handed five years and 26 weeks in prison by Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, after being labelled the "Jimmy Savile of trolling” during the trial in August.
Alex will serve half on all four charges he was convicted of, with all four of his victims being granted restraining orders by the judge, Nottingham Live reports. Jurors accepted Belfield caused serious alarm or distress to two victims and was found guilty of “simple” stalking in relation to Channel 5 and BBC Radio 2 presenter Mr Vine and theatre blogger Philip Dehany.
The court heard he repeatedly posted or sent abusive messages, videos and emails. BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith was left feeling suicidal by a “tsunami of hate”, jurors heard.
Jeremy also gave evidence against Belfield during the trial, as he said: “This is not a regular troll here. This is the Jimmy Savile of trolling.” Describing watching Belfield’s video output as like swimming in sewage, the broadcaster said of the defendant’s conduct: “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.”
The court was told the 42-year-old started out as a broadcast assistant on local radio and in recent years set up a YouTube channel known as Celebrity Radio. He told the court he was the victim of a social media “pile-on” and a “witch-hunt” by other broadcasters, after exercising his rights to freedom of speech in communications with the complainants.
Prosecutor John McGuinness QC said Jeremy was subjected to a “constant bombardment” of harassing tweets and YouTube videos in 2020. The presenter, the court heard, faced a wave of abuse online after false and entirely baseless claims were made relating to the supposed theft of £1,000.
Belfield is said to have developed a “dislike, almost hatred” of Mr Vine after the BBC donated the sum to a memorial fund set up to honour a friend of the broadcaster. Another one of his victims included a videographer who was stalked online after tweeting his disgust at one of Belfield’s YouTube videos.
At the start of the trial prosecutors said Belfield “wasn’t prepared to move on” after leaving the BBC and became disgruntled by what he perceived to be unfair treatment from his managers. He was found not guilty 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 BBC worker Helen Thomas.
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