Jailed, ex-BBC radio DJ stalker who left Jeremy Vine fearing for his life

A FORMER BBC local radio DJ who waged an online harassment campaign against Jeremy Vine was yesterday jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Alex Belfield, 42, ‘weaponised the internet’ and left the BBC Radio 2 and Channel 5 TV presenter fearing for his life.

Belfield, who has more than 360,000 subscribers on YouTube, used the videosharing platform to subject him to a ‘wave of personal attacks’, which Vine said left him unable to eat or sleep.

Belfield, who was briefly a DJ on BBC Radio Leeds, also repeatedly contacted Vine and three others via email, tweets or Facebook. Last month he was convicted of stalking Vine, BBC Northampton host Bernard Spedding, videographer Ben Hewis and theatre critic Philip Dehany.

At Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, Mr Justice Saini told Belfield that Spedding ‘was seconds away from taking his own life as a result of your conduct’.

The judge also imposed restraining orders preventing Belfield, of Nottingham, from contacting his victims.