Former BBC DJ Alex Belfield has been sentenced to more than five years in prison after being found guilty of stalking broadcasters, with his victims now reacting to the verdict.
Belfield, 42, was handed five years and 26 weeks in jail at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday following his relentless hate campaign. He had been labelled the "Jimmy Savile of trolling" during the trial in August.
Belfield was found guilty by the jury of "simple" stalking in relation to Channel 5 presenter Jeremy and theatre blogger Philip Dehany.
He was further found guilty of stalking to cause alarm and distress to BBC Radio Northampton's Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis, Nottingham Live reports.
Taking to Twitter, Ben expressed his relief at the verdict.
He wrote: "Today Alex Belfield has been sentenced to 5 years 26 weeks in prison for his stalking myself and 7 others. I'm thrilled justice has been served & excited to move on with the rest of my life."
Ben also shared his victim personal statement and said: "Since first encountering Alex Belfield in 2019, not a day has gone by without me losing countless waking and sleeping hours, terrified about what he might do next to target me and my family."
The videographer said he has been left "psychologically and emotionally drained".
Sharing Ben's post on social media, Jeremy added: "Read this, if you are wondering why #alexbelfield just got 5+ years in jail. And this is only one of his eight victims."
Blogger Philip also reflected on the outcome, thanking people for their kindness and support.
He said: "I was one of eight courageous people who stood up to Alex Belfield on behalf of many, many other victims."
"Today's sentencing is a victory for all of us," he added.
Philip thanked DC Janet Percival as well as John McGuinness KC and Mr Justice Saini "for recognising us all and giving us the outcome we needed".
Belfield will serve half on all 4 charges he was convicted of, with all four of his victims being granted restraining orders by the judge.
The judge also made indefinite restraining orders in relation to complainants, including two former BBC managers, concerning the four charges he was found not guilty on.
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.
