We were the learning curve for Belfield. Ben Hewis is perverting the course of justice. Alex Belfield is a 42-year-old former BBC radio star and vlogger who hails from Nottinghamshire. Prosecutors allege that Belfield, 42, caused serious alarm or distress to Vine, former BBC Radio Leeds mid-morning show host Stephanie Hirst, and BBC Radio Northampton's Bernie Keith. Belfield also published Mr Vine's address to a "mass audience", the judge said. For just over three minutes, the 42-year-old delivered a monologue in which he said he was in prison for simply defending himself. Alex Belfield, 42, who "weaponised the internet", . 'My initial reaction (to the alleged stalking) was ''He's gone mad'',' Mr Keith said. Full statement on legal action & police inquiry BBC Bernie Keith / Bernard Spedding & Ben Hewis. He was found guilty of this offence in relation to only two of the complainants - BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Spedding, who is known as Bernie Keith, and videographer Ben Hewis. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. 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. 'The counselling didn't work for me - I had never had counselling before and I found it very difficult, very alien.'. . In court, he claimed to have nine employees, but who they are remains a mystery. Labour MP Barry Sheerman is calling for an independent inquiry into how the BBC treated female staff who were harassed online by Belfield. 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. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Belfield had harassed this victim, BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernard Spedding, for nine years and some of his followers had sent him death threats. 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'. Breen says she and others flagged Belfields behaviour repeatedly but were told just not to look at the emails, or to delete them. Something went wrong, please try again later. Belfield was found not guilty of stalking Rozina Breen, Liz Green, Helen Thomas and Stephanie Hirst. He would harass some theatre companies, to the extent that his email address was blocked, and front of house staff were warned about him., Belfield had a complicated relationship with the entertainment industry, the director believes. In relation to the women, the judge said: "Each of them suffered a campaign of harassment by email and social media communications. UPDATE. Alex Belfield repeatedly posted abusive social media messages after his BBC contract wasn't renewed (Picture: PA) . 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". ). Weve presented the BBC and RPCs Nicola Cain (now left the case as Bernies lawyer) with indisputable evidence that we believe BBC Northamptons Bernie Keith wrote this unprovoked attack. BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith was left feeling suicidal by a 'tsunami of hate', the trial heard. 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. Prosecutors claimed Belfield subjected Vine to a relentless online campaign that included a wave of personal and unpleasant attacks on YouTube,TwitterandFacebookover an 11-month period. Alex Belfield, a former BBC presenter, appears at Nottingham Crown Court, on 12 counts of stalking on July 29, 2021. The judge said it was an aggravating factor that Belfield's harassment was public, as this caused his social media followers to also abuse Mr Spedding over a "lengthy period". I will refer to him by that name. Belfield currently hosts the Voice of Reason YouTube channel, which has over 372,000 subscribers. I dont think that stuff even bothered him.. Read about our approach to external linking. Four women, past and previous BBC DJs and executives, had also accused Belfield of stalking them via email and social media, but the jury found him not guilty on those charges. The optics arent good, says Breen. 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The Belfield Green knew at Radio Leeds in 2010 was difficult but he wasnt a table-thumping, immigrant-hating rightwing polemicist, she says. hen Alex Belfield was sent to prison for five and a half years last month for online stalking, his accusers cried with relief. Yet, he remains unstable and on air at the BBC. Philip Dehany, a rival theatre blogger, who was targeted by Belfield in YouTube videos. Perhaps that independent review would expose those at the very top (men) who left us exposed. Feb 10th, doors at 7, first dance at 7.30- 11.30. Copyright Celebrity Radio. "You made this highly successful and confident radio presenter lose all joy in life and turned him into a shell.". 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. UPDATE. The criteria for applying for an order are set out in section 1(1) of the Stalking Protection Act 2019. Friday Night is our 2nd Handbag Heaven Club Night. He presents aYouTubechannel called Voice of Reason, which has over 361,000 subscribers. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. Breen and Green both think the BBC failed all four women who gave evidence against Belfield. Read about our approach to external linking. 'In April last year I collapsed at my home and had to be taken to hospital. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. 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. After his first arrest, in June 2020, he started two crowdfunders to raise money to sue first the BBC and then Nottinghamshire police. 603 0 obj <>stream Ben Hewis is a videographer who works in the theatre and wedding industries and Philip Dehany was a rival theatre blogger. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. Belfield, who now runs a YouTube channel called The Voice of Reason, told jurors he had legitimate reasons for his online communications. Port Vale F.C. 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. "Bearing in mind the need for an overall proportionate sentence and the principle of totality, I am not satisfied that my final overall sentence of five years and 26 weeks would have been substantially higher had I been made aware of the correct legal position on count 5 [the charge relating to Bernie Keith].". "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. "Alex Belfield had no qualms about the abuse he handed out, in many cases publicly.". 100+ emails sent/received from BBC & lawyers no defense of Spedding whatsoever. @decotheatre. Asked why it had not banned Belfield from its platform following his conviction, YouTube did not respond. His last company, Champagne Sippers, incorporated in December 2020, has never filed company accounts. "He was seconds away from taking his own life as a result of your conduct," the judge, Mr Justice Saini, told Belfield. Although jurors found Belfield not guilty of stalking Liz Green, Rozina Breen, Helen Thomas and Stephanie Hirst, Mr Justice Saini said Belfield had harassed them, and he made restraining orders to protect them in future. A security company had also been brought in to collect him from the radio station's car park, Mr Keith said. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. He was convicted Friday, August 5, 2022, on four counts of stalking. Find Alex Belfield's email address, contact information, LinkedIn, Twitter, other social media and more. 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. 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. hbbd```b``"H %&jv`8Z`` Hy |AAg%@ !CI The morning of his sentencing, Belfield had sat silent in the dock at Nottingham crown court as barrister David Aubrey KC finally mitigated on his behalf. Soon she terminated it altogether, after he tweeted something that suggested albeit in veiled terms that Green should be sent to Auschwitz, after his rival presenter fronted a highly praised documentary about the concentration camp. "This was the darkest point of my life because there was no end to it. - a disco for people who want to dance to songs they know from backalong but have nowhere to go. Vine said it is very, very important that the BBC learn lessons from what happened to the women at BBC Leeds. Ben Hewis refuses to communicate with Nottingham Police. 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.. Former BBC local radio DJ Alex Belfield has been found guilty of four . One day, Green says she found a talented young producer crying in the toilets after being shouted at by Belfield. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Here's Celebrity Radio's BBC Bernie Keith & Ben Hewis STATEMENTFull statement on legal action & police inquiry - BBC Bernie Keith / Bernard Spedding & Ben Hewis . He had never gone near anyone, he insisted, and was not accused of threatening any violence. It was a risk. 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. 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. Horrific, vicious, cowardly.". He loved and hated showbusiness, and if he couldnt be you, hed have you, and be part of you, another way. "I will never be able to work out why it has happened to me.". The author identified himself in the screen-grab published by Hewis. A wacky array of clothing Belfield arrives at court in August. While most defendants on trial try to avoid cameras on the way into court, Belfield seemed to be doing his best to attract them, wearing an array of wacky jackets and shirts. Each of them suffered serious mental health problems arising from Mr Belfield's conduct.". endstream endobj 563 0 obj <>/Metadata 36 0 R/Pages 560 0 R/StructTreeRoot 43 0 R/Type/Catalog/ViewerPreferences 579 0 R>> endobj 564 0 obj <>/MediaBox[0 0 595.32 841.92]/Parent 560 0 R/Resources<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI]>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 565 0 obj <>stream 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. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. If you can help with mounting legal costs please email alex@alexbelfield.co.uk, Uploaded by Alex Belfield at Celebrity Radio 13th March 2020. Mr Justice Saini had sentenced Belfield to two-and-a-half years for stalking one of the complainants, Bernie Keith. 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. 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. =NYOn:0'tzcD|k1xKx^-58nn-~?Oo>K KJ9OVJN3>:EOLbTk*q2ScG=UrS+0t-qNXZ.3X ;{h0B. Ex-BBC DJ Alex Belfield has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for stalking four colleagues including BBC Radio Northampton's Bernie Keith. You are entitled to hold and express views but you are not entitled to destroy the personal lives of your victims through online harassment.. Presenter Iain Lee has since come out to say Belfield targeted him for many years, but that he was too frightened to go to court to give evidence. 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. Belfield had denied stalking the 57-year-old, and seven other alleged victims, claiming he was the subject of a witch hunt. Why do the four women involved feel let down? "Your methods were, however, just as effective as a way of intimidating your victims, and were in many ways much harder to deal with.". All is explained in the video. The email contained 7 blatant (easily disprovable) malicious lies. "My initial reaction [to the stalking] was 'He's gone mad'," Mr Spedding told the trial. Official YouTube stats show that www . In October 2020, Belfield spread a false rumour that he was having an affair with a fellow BBC radio presenter, using it as part of his ongoing campaign against the national broadcaster. Unprovoked, anonymous, malicious email published by Ben Hewis Oct 1 2019. But some of the complainants feel they never really got justice. I find you intended to maximise Mr Keiths distress.. "He now has developed the insight that he didn't have before," Mr Aubrey said. In September 2001 he began his career as a radio host after joining BBC Radio Leicester. 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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. Even after YouTube stopped him making money from his channel, Belfield was still reasonably flush. He would invite viewers to send in fan mail not to any registered office but to his local pub, whose landlady he described as his receptionist. Alex Belfield arrives at Nottingham crown court in July for the trial in which he was accused of stalking. 6 months later the BBC refuse to reveal which BBC person wrote the email. I can tell you now their proposed review will not claim responsibility nor say sorry. 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!' 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! The 42-year-old was also found guilty of stalking BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis. Online stalkers like you have an ability to recruit an army of followers whose conduct massively expands the effect of your stalking, he said. Keith Elliot Greenberg Interview The Day John Lennon Died, Keith Chegwin Exclusive 2015 Interview Celebrity Big Brother. although such was the effect of what Alex Belfield did that some were . Regardless, the judge clearly considered him a threat. Between 2004 and 2010, he appeared on radio stations, including Mercia FM, Touch FM, BBC Bristol, BBC Radio Shropshire and BBC Hereford and Worcester. Former BBC DJ Belfield was jailed in September after he was found guilty of waging a relentless stalking campaign against BBC Radio Northampton's Bernie Keith, and subjecting TV presenter Jeremy . Mr Belfield was today sentenced to five years and 26 months in prison at Nottingham Crown Court. 01604 491005. It was a nine-year obsession, which saw him make what the judge described as the false and scandalous accusation that Keith regularly had sex in public on gay beaches with strangers. He told the jury he was seconds away from killing himself. Collaborations. Since 2012 Belfield has focused on presenting and producing content for his website Celebrity Radio. 'This was the darkest point of my life because there was no end to it. Mr Vine also gave evidence against Belfield during the trial, as he said: "This . Mr Vine faced a torrent of abuse online, including thousands of social media messages from Belfields followers and personal threats. According to the Institute of Lawfare, lawfare is the misuse and abuse of the law for political, commercial and military ends. BBC & RPC lawyers refuse to deny BBC DJ Bernard Spedding / Bernie Keith wrote email. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. January was great - highly recommended for joy and fun. Our community guidelines prohibit content that threatens individuals and we have removed several videos for violating these policies.. The judge told Belfield he will serve up to half of his sentence in prison and the remainder on licence. On Count 5, The TV presenter labelled him the Jimmy Savile of trolling during the trial, which heard he repeatedly posted or sent abusive messages, videos and emails. READ MORE: The cinemas in Northamptonshire showing the Queen's funeral on Monday for free, Jurors accepted Belfield caused serious alarm or distress to two victims and found him guilty of simple stalking in relation to Channel 5 and BBC Radio 2 presenter Mr Vine and theatre blogger Philip Dehany. alex belfield wife name. Alex Belfield and Katie Hopkins in a video on her YouTube channel, advertising the show they did together. You have got these proclamations of hate coming out and that it will never end.'. It could be interpreted as a reluctance to expose systemic failings and a complete failure in duty of care. And what did he mean by: We will be back? His aim was, in his own words, to haunt his victims, and he deployed his army of followers to pile on with abusive messages to those targeted, said Mr Justice Saini. However, he has also been charged with stalking Bernie Keith and videographer Ben Hewis. 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. She has asked the BBC to commission an independent investigation into what happened. "There's a good chance of a custodial sentence," he added. The prosecution said the YouTuber's stalking was more akin to 'internet trolling' than physical stalking, sending emails, tweets or making videos and subjecting victims to harassment and abuse - some of them over the course of many years. Within days, 15,000 people had signed a Free Alex Belfield petition and Hopkins was on Instagram mocking Belfields targets for whining about simple hurty words. The judge did stop him from interrogating complainants, appointing David Aubrey as a proxy advocate. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Heres the facts on what happened. I AM A VICTIM OF A CRIME. Rozina Breen, the corporation's former Head of North, told . The eight complainants hoped to never hear from their tormenter again, only to discover that he had arranged for that one final, defiant video to go live after the judge sent him down, goading them from beyond his prison walls. hb```6Ad`0p Both question why the corporation only really took the abuse seriously once a well-known man Vine was involved. 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. According to GoFundMe, which hosted the appeals, he raised a total of 29,446. Feb 8. 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. The relief was temporary. ', After describing how he had considered taking his own life, he told the jury: 'I just couldn't do it. is an English professional association football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.The club was formed in the late 1870s and in 1884 they took the name Burslem Port Vale, dropping the 'Burslem' prefix in 1907. Member of the public 'donates' hand grenade to D-Day museum Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. 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