Entertainment
Jeremy Vine criticises social networks after his stalker is jailed: ‘They don’t have any moral values’-Rebecca Sayce-Entertainment – Metro
His stalker was jailed on Friday.
The comments come after Jeremy Vine’s stalker was jailed on Friday (Picture: Joe Maher / Getty Images)
Jeremy Vine has criticised social media companies following the jailing of a former BBC local radio presenter for stalking.
Alex Belfield, 42, was found guilty last month at Nottingham Crown Court of waging a campaign against a number of figures from the broadcasting world, including Vine.
On Friday, he was jailed for five years and 26 weeks.
Jurors accepted he 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.
Following the verdict, Vine criticised platforms such as YouTube and Twitter.
‘We had to get lawyers to get his s**t taken down, and even then it’s hard,’ he said to The Sunday Times.
Jeremy Vine has hit out at social media sites following the sentencing (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)
Alex Belfied has been jailed for five years and 26 weeks (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)
‘The companies just say no. They don’t have any moral values.’
Describing stalking as the ‘industrial disease of broadcasting’, he added that stalking is common for broadcasters, saying that of his three female best friends at the BBC, ‘all of them have had stalkers.’
Jurors convicted Belfield of four charges committed between 2012 and 2021.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Saini told him: ‘Your offenses are so serious only a custodial sentence can be justified.’
Belfield, who has 359,000 followers on his YouTube channel, The Voice Of Reason, and 43,000 on Twitter, directed his attacks via social media ‘in highly negative and often abusive terms,’ the judge said.
As well as jailing Belfield, Mr Justice Saini issued indefinite restraining orders banning him from contacting his victims.
Metro.co.uk has contacted YouTube and Twitter for comment.
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