'I can't remember when I have had a run of good sleep of longer than five hours. VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Toggle primary navigation. Friday Night is our 2nd Handbag Heaven Club Night. Mr Justice Saini said Belfield's campaign of harassment had left Mr Keith just seconds away from dying by suicide. \Mb+r'rS~(aU\voP GCK16X0v04p62h,3 0b``f:(x3j=)\-u`IL! This resulted in my reputation destroyed in the eyes of peers who blocked me. In Mr Keiths case, the abuse was sustained over nine years, with the judge saying he had no escape from Belfield, who made up and repeated a wholly false and scandalous allegation about his former friend. Belfield, who is 42 and from Nottingham, was originally charged with stalking eight different people, who were mostly current or former BBC staff. 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. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. The author identified himself in the screen-grab published by Hewis. 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. On Count 5, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 2023 BBC. Aaron Sidwell was smart enough to retract his comments immediately: Phillip Dehany refuses to delete his post/vlog repeating the lies and endorsing Hewis. That he was allowed to play court reporter upset many complainants, particularly as Belfield decided not to give evidence under oath. Copyright Celebrity Radio. He presents aYouTubechannel called Voice of Reason, which has over 361,000 subscribers. He told the jury he was seconds away from killing himself. Mr Justice Saini, sentencing, told Belfield, who sat taking notes in the dock: Your offences are so serious only a custodial sentence can be justified.. Yet, he remains unstable and on air at the BBC. 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. Giving evidence in court, Vine said: I have in the past had a physical stalker who followed me. A security company had also been brought in to collect him from the radio station's car park, Mr Keith said. I pleaded with him (Belfield) to stop. Between 2004 and 2010, he appeared on radio stations, including Mercia FM, Touch FM, BBC Bristol, BBC Radio Shropshire and BBC Hereford and Worcester. He warned Belfield he needed to be "extra careful about your online communications" as he adjourned the case. "You were not a whistleblower in any sense but developed a fixation with pursuing Mr Vine with a campaign of abuse," the judge said. Find Alex Belfield of CelebrityRadio.biz's articles, email address, contact information, Twitter and more. ): 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? In relation to the women, the judge said: "Each of them suffered a campaign of harassment by email and social media communications. 6 months later Ben Hewis REFUSES to release the email. He has also been convicted of stalking Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis. Ex-BBC presenter Alex Belfield's "campaign of harassment" had left Northampton's Bernie Keith "just seconds away" from suicide. Former BBC local radio DJ Alex Belfield has been found guilty of four . UPDATE. Unable to work and claiming to be on 86-a-week universal credit when the theatres shut, Belfield reinvented himself as a rightwing shockjock. 603 0 obj <>stream 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. 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.. and BBC Radio Northampton's Bernie Keith. Stayed tuned - Alex Murdaugh's sordid tale is just getting started, Alex Murdaugh's head is shaved as he is booked into South Carolina prison fortress for weeks of evaluation before being sent to a maximum security facility housing the 'worst of the worst', At least 10 dead as wild storms lash the U.S: Tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail topples trucks and leaves one million without power in Kentucky, Alabama and Arkansas - after dumping 17 feet of snow in California, Massive gas tanker crashes in Maryland and EXPLODES into fireball killing the driver and setting local residents' homes ablaze as large plumes of black smoke and embers billow from crash site, 'I want to be a French child!' Radio Presenter Age And Net Worth. "Blocking was also a futile exercise as Belfield continued to seek out new ways to get to me when others failed. But Breen thought he would bring personality to the station. Christmas is always Belfield's busiest time of the year. The 42-year-old, from Nottingham, is due to be sentenced on 16 September and has been warned he could be jailed. All Rights Reserved. How many people signed up for 1 a week is unclear, though some live streams attracted barely 300 viewers. hbbd```b``"H %&jv`8Z`` Hy |AAg%@ !CI January was great - highly recommended for joy and fun. The judge did stop him from interrogating complainants, appointing David Aubrey as a proxy advocate. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. - a disco for people who want to dance to songs they know from backalong but have nowhere to go. 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. He hated being told how to improve by Jeremy, and thats where I think it all started.. Belfield was also convicted of the simple stalking of theatre blogger Philip Dehany, who suffered a vicious campaign of abuse. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The relief was temporary. 15:33, 16 SEP 2022. Read about our approach to external linking. arring a successful appeal, Belfield will serve at least the next two years and 39 weeks in jail, before being released on licence to serve the second half of his sentence. ', Belfield had made a bogus claim that he had been sacked, Mr Keith said, adding: 'It was all too much. Former BBC radio personality Alex Belfield, 42, is also a vlogger from Nottinghamshire. 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. READ MORE:Jury's verdicts delivered in stalking trial of ex-BBC presenter Alex Belfield. Alex performed 56 shows in 2012, 48 shows in 2013, 52 shows in 2014 & 54 shows in 2015.. With up to 3 or 4 shows a day - this years mammoth tour was his biggest production yet! Full statement on legal action & police inquiry BBC Bernie Keith / Bernard Spedding & Ben Hewis. But some of the complainants feel they never really got justice. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Prosecutors allege Mr Belfield, 42, caused serious alarm or distress to Vine, as well as Stephanie Hirst, a former BBC Radio Leeds mid-morning show host, and Bernie Keith, of BBC Radio Northampton. "I will never be able to work out why it has happened to me.". 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. "In some cases this has extended to death threats," he said. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. We have begged the BBC to resolve this quietly and privately. Belfield was not accused of physically stalking the complainants, who were mostly current or former BBC staff. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. Each of them suffered a campaign of harassment by email and social media communications. Mr Spedding 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". Finally, respite from what for some had been a decade of near-constant abuse. It is a powerful weapon for fighting political or commercial enemies . At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. "Alex Belfield had no qualms about the abuse he handed out, in many cases publicly.". Dehany ended up the subject of numerous YouTube broadcasts where Belfield suggested he was mentally ill, and called him a mincer and a little twirly with an incredibly tiny man sausage. Since 2012 Belfield has focused on presenting and producing content for his website Celebrity Radio. Mr Belfield was today sentenced to five years and 26 months in prison at Nottingham Crown Court. Belfield had denied stalking the 57-year-old, and seven other alleged victims, claiming he was the subject of a witch hunt. 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. He said a pre-sentence report showed that while Belfield fully acknowledges the distress to victims, it also highlights you still appear to focus on the impact on you and feel in certain respects youve been unfairly treated. 'You can't work out how it's happened. Instead, he made YouTube videos about them, posted messages on social media, and sent emails either to them or about them. Alex Belfield has been jailed on four stalking charges (Picture: SWNS / PA) . You have got these proclamations of hate coming out and that it will never end.'. 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. The judge said he agreed with some of the witnesses in the case, who said Belfield had "weaponised the internet". He soon made enemies in the theatre world, says a director who started monitoring his online activities a few years ago (and who wishes to remain anonymous). Jeremy Vine suffered 'Olympic level stalking' by presenter, court hears, Alex Belfield claimed radio station had 'refused' to mention Manchester terrorist attack, Stalker Alex Belfield has shelled out '300,000 already' on his legal case, YouTube still hosts convicted stalker Alex Belfield's videos, Ex-BBC DJ Alex Belfield accused of stalking tells jury he is the victim of a witch-hunt, Alex Belfield was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in behind bars. Green still works for the BBC but is trying to negotiate a settlement to leave. Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this article! "The stalking you committed was not the conventional type which is popularised in the press," he said. hb```6Ad`0p Refuses to deny he wrote the email. When not filming himself he would address his camera operator as Tarquin. 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. Bernard Spedding ignored every single correspondence. 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). No more waking up in the middle of the night filled with dread about what he might have said about them to his then 373,000 YouTube subscribers or in bitter emails to their bosses or clients. Launching it on 1 March this year, Belfield said he wanted to broadcast away from the toxic spectrumed trolls, lefties, fart heads & Mogadon moronic medicated mentalists & journalists. 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. Two days have been set aside to hear the application at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on March 7. 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. 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. "He now has developed the insight that he didn't have before," Mr Aubrey said. Required fields are marked *. For the best part of 10 years they had been complaining about Belfields vendetta, in which he sent hundreds, if not thousands, of emails to them and their superiors. Silence was the best policy in the eyes of the corporation. 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Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. Jeremy Vine arriving at Nottingham Crown Court in July. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Read about our approach to external linking. A former BBC radio presenter has been found guilty of stalking four people including broadcaster Jeremy Vine. (takes 20 seconds to download full statement plus call to Hewis). Some feel he was given too much power in his own trial. Hewis encouraged an entire industry to block me.over lies he endorsed! According to the Institute of Lawfare, lawfare is the misuse and abuse of the law for political, commercial and military ends. Recalling how he was offered counselling in 2020, the presenter told the court: 'I had three sessions before lockdown came into force. The stalking of Mr Keith caused him serious alarm or distress. 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. Mr Belfield, on 5 August 2022, following a 5 week trial here at Nottingham Crown Court the jury convicted you on 4 counts. Mr Spedding, the trial heard, was left feeling suicidal by a "tsunami of hate" from Belfield. For just over three minutes, the 42-year-old delivered a monologue in which he said he was in prison for simply defending himself. "He had no escape from you," the judge told Belfield. Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Breen left this summer to become editor-in-chief at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. He hated the thing he loved, or hated other people having success within it.. Our community guidelines prohibit content that threatens individuals and we have removed several videos for violating these policies.. Ben Hewis refuses to engage with the police and hand over the email. He was found guilty of this offence in relation to two of the complainants - Mr Spedding, who is known as Bernie Keith, and videographer Ben Hewis. Belfield soon became obsessed with ruining Hewiss professional and personal life. Alex Belfield, 42, who "weaponised the internet", was last month found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court of waging a relentless campaign, with TV's Mr Vine subjected to an "avalanche of hatred". Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. Belfield also phoned Dehanys mother and then threatened to broadcast the call an outrageous and cruel act, said Saini and effectively sought to blackmail him by revealing details of a long-spent conviction. The judge told Belfield he will serve up to half of his sentence in prison and the remainder on licence. According to GoFundMe, which hosted the appeals, he raised a total of 29,446. Alex Belfield, a former BBC presenter, appears at Nottingham Crown Court, on 12 counts of stalking on July 29, 2021. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. 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. 'My reputation is now in shreds because all of this has been seen throughout my industry and the wider population. hen Alex Belfield was sent to prison for five and a half years last month for online stalking, his accusers cried with relief.