Stalker who left Jeremy Vine in terror faces jail
A YOUTUBER who launched an online harassment campaign against Jeremy Vine is facing jail after he was convicted of stalking yesterday.
Alex Belfield, 42, who has more than 370,000 subscribers on the video-sharing platform, was dubbed the ‘Jimmy Savile of trolls’ by the Radio 2 presenter – who sobbed as he told jurors he had endured an ‘avalanche of hatred’ at the defendant’s hands.
The court heard a ‘wave of personal attacks’ left Vine unable to eat or sleep and in fear of a knife or acid attack by one of Belfield’s online ‘disciples’.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Vine, who claimed Belfield made 124 references to him in his online content in a 14-day period, was even forced to put up a picture of Belfield in the hallway and warn his teenage daughter to be on her guard while on the street.
Belfield, himself a former BBC DJ, denied stalking Vine and seven other alleged victims between 2012 and last year, claiming he ‘spoke as he found’ and ‘had a right to free speech’.
He was cleared of stalking offences against four alleged victims, but found guilty of stalking Vine, BBC Northampton host Bernard Spedding, videographer Ben Hewis, and theatre critic Philip Dehany. Judge Mr Justice Saini said there was a ‘good chance’ he would be incarcerated when he returned to court for sentencing next month.
John McGuinness QC, prosecuting, had told the court that Belfield’s offending was ‘more akin to internet trolling’ than the ‘more recognisable form of stalking – following the victim when they are moving around in the street’.
But during his evidence, Vine, who also fronts a show on Channel 5, revealed he had previously had a ‘physical’ stalker – and claimed that was a ‘picnic’ compared to Belfield’s ‘Olympic-level’ of online harassment, which took place over 11 months from April 2020.
He described how Belfield encouraged supporters to make hoax calls to his Channel 5 and Radio 2 shows.
Vine said he’d never heard of Belfield, himself a former BBC radio host, until an acquaintance sent him a link of one of Belfield’s YouTube videos in 2020. It featured a ‘rant’ about him which concluded with Belfield saying: ‘This guy really p ***** me off.’ A ‘constant bombardment’ of videos, tweets and messages then followed, with Belfield becoming increasingly abusive.
Belfield, of Mapperley, Nottingham, represented himself in court and told jurors in a closing speech that ‘people who claim I was stalking them were actively seeking out my content.’
Belfield, who worked at BBC Radio Leeds from 2010 to 2011, was cleared of stalking Vine and Dehany to cause serious alarm or distress – but found guilty of ‘simple stalking’.
Sheryl Monk from the Crown Prosecution Service said his ‘conduct... left his victims fearful and anxious’.
‘Olympic-level harassment’