Alex Belfield: MP seeks inquiry over female BBC staff harassed online

Alex Belfield is currently in prison after being convicted of stalking four men

An MP is calling for an independent inquiry into how the BBC treated female staff who were "trolled unmercifully" by radio presenter Alex Belfield.

Belfield, from Nottingham, has been jailed for stalking four men including broadcaster Jeremy Vine.

Labour MP Barry Sheerman raised the case in Parliament, saying the BBC gave "no help" to women Belfield harassed.

In response, the BBC press office said the corporation wanted "to learn" from what happened.

Along with the five-and-a-half-year sentence given to Belfield last month, restraining orders were also put in place to protect four women he had targeted.

Mr Sheerman is the MP for Huddersfield, the constituency of Liz Green, who was one of those harassed by the former BBC broadcaster.

"She and other women were trolled unmercifully," he said in the House of Commons.

"Their lives were absolutely ruined and disrupted and the BBC gave no support, no help at all.

"Is it time we got the Department of Culture, Media and Sport secretary here? I am a great, passionate supporter of public broadcasting but what these women have suffered from the BBC is unacceptable."

Barry Sheerman said he and other MPs want an independent inquiry

Mr Sheerman also chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice.

Speaking from his home, he said: "This is a miscarriage of justice. This is people driven into mental health breakdowns with no support, by an employer that obviously didn't care."

Mr Sheerman said he and other MPs would now be campaigning for an independent inquiry looking at the Belfield case, and perhaps the treatment of other BBC staff who have been harassed.

"We want an independent inquiry to look at what the BBC did or didn't do for this group of really excellent employees," he said.

"We are going to start with this group who took action against this man and we may find there are other people in the BBC that were treated in this way and left with no support.

"This is a campaign that's not going away."

Liz Green said she had been suicidal as a result of Belfield's harassment

The BBC has said it is conducting an internal review "to establish what lessons can be learned" from the Belfield case.

However, the women Belfield harassed have asked the BBC for an independent review or investigation.

Ms Green, who worked with Belfield at BBC Radio Leeds, said on Wednesday: "My mental health has been destroyed. I've been suicidal. My confidence in what I do and who I am is eroded, and I feel let down by my employer."

Rozina Breen, who was also harassed by Belfield, left the BBC in May to become CEO and editor-in-chief for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

She said: "We were BBC employees doing our jobs, targeted because we were in those jobs.

"I do believe there were catastrophic failings with regards to us in terms of duty of care and our health and safety and, as such, have asked for an independent review."

Rozina Breen said the BBC had left her and other staff to "sink or swim"

Jurors found Belfield not guilty of stalking Ms Green, Ms Breen, and two other BBC employees - Helen Thomas and Stephanie Hirst.

However the judge, Mr Justice Saini, said Belfield had harassed these complainants, and he made restraining orders to protect them in future.

"Each of them [the complainants] suffered a campaign of harassment by email and social media communications. Each of them suffered serious mental health problems arising from Mr Belfield's conduct," he said.

"The longest periods of abuse were suffered by Ms Breen, Ms Thomas and Ms Green. I find in relation to Ms Breen and Ms Thomas abusive emails running into thousands were sent over about a 10-year period. In relation to Ms Green there were hundreds of emails.

"There was no escape for these complainants from Mr Belfield until Nottinghamshire Police became involved in late 2020 and bail conditions prohibiting contact or references to these persons were imposed."

Belfield had been a presenter at BBC Radio Leeds

Responding to Mr Sheerman in Parliament, Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Commons, said: "I thank him for raising this point, it's an incredibly serious matter, and I hope that all employers would have that duty of care and look after people.

"I have to say to all members of this house, we have a responsibility too in how we conduct ourselves on social media, and when we see colleagues - even if they are on the opposite side of the house - suffering similar abuse, we all have a duty to step in and ask that that desist."

A statement from the BBC press office said: "We know this has been very difficult for those involved and we continue to provide support to current and former staff.

"We also want to learn from this to ensure we offer the best possible support to all colleagues, who may sadly experience the threat and risks of online stalking in the future."