Alex Belfield, a right-wing provocateur who now hosts a YouTube show, waged a relentless nine-year campaign of stalking four victims after BBC Radio Leeds did not renew his contract in 2011. One of the victims – TV and radio presenter Jeremy Vine – told a trial at Nottingham Crown Court that Belfield, 42, was “the Jimmy Savile of trolling”. Belfield, of Mapperley, Nottingham, denied causing serious alarm or distress to the eight victims but was convicted of four charges by a jury on Friday. They accepted he had caused serious alarm or distress to two victims and found him guilty of stalking Channel 5 and BBC Radio 2 presenter Mr Vine and theater blogger Philip Dehany. He was found not guilty of stalking former BBC North chief Rozina Breen, former BBC Radio Leeds presenters Liz Green and Stephanie Hirst and ex-BBC worker Helen Thomas. The court was told Belfield repeatedly posted or sent taunting and abusive social media messages, videos and emails to colleagues after his one-year contract was not renewed. He showed no emotion and wrote notes on a piece of paper as he was found guilty of committing the offenses between 2012 and 2021. The court was told the 42-year-old started out as a broadcast assistant on local radio and in recent years created a YouTube channel known as Celebrity Radio. Jeremy Vine receives ‘constant bombardment’ of harassing tweets and YouTube videos from Alex Belfield (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Opening the crown case last month, prosecutor John McGuinness QC said Mr Vine was “constantly bombarded” with harassing tweets and YouTube videos from Belfield in 2020. The presenter faced a wave of abuse online after making false and completely unfounded claims about the alleged theft of £1,000, a court heard. Belfield is said to have developed a “dislike, almost hatred” for Vine after the BBC donated the sum to a memorial fund set up to honor a friend of the broadcaster. In his evidence, Mr Vine, who launched separate defamation proceedings last year, said of Belfield: “I found it shocking and disturbing and it made me worry. In the past I had a physical stalker following me around. “That’s a picnic compared to this guy. It’s like an avalanche of hate hitting you.” Another of Belfield’s victims included a videographer who was stalked online after tweeting his disgust at one of Belfield’s YouTube videos. Alex Belfield has been dubbed the ‘Jimmy Savile of trolling’ after waging a relentless nine-year campaign against four victims (Jacob King/PA) Mr McGuinness told the court the offenses began in November 2012, a year after Belfield’s one-year contract at BBC Radio Leeds was not renewed. Prosecutors said Belfield was “not ready to move on” after leaving the BBC and was unhappy about being treated unfairly by his managers. Mr McGuinness told the court: “There is no indication that the defendant’s conduct involved physical stalking … although such was the effect of what Alex Belfield did that some people were, in fact, concerned about the possibility of Mr Belfield turning up in their homes . “The stalking involved in this case is of a different type and more like internet trolling. “The alleged victims did not want to be contacted by Alex Belfield, they did not want to see or hear or know what he was saying about them. “But he went ahead and did it anyway, the prosecution says, relentlessly harassing them, knowing or knowing he was harassing them, to the extent that what he did caused them serious concern or distress that affected their daily lives for the worse. “ Belfield had argued he was the victim of a social media “hoarding” and “witch hunt” by other broadcasters after exercising his free speech rights in communications with the complainants. He was granted bail and will be sentenced on September 16. Additional reporting from the Press Association
