Alex Belfield: YouTuber plans appeal against stalking jail sentence

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

YouTuber Alex Belfield is planning to appeal against his prison sentence for stalking four men online.

The former BBC radio presenter was jailed for five-and-a-half years after being convicted in September.

His planned appeal has now been mentioned in court by the trial judge, at a hearing which related to an error made when Belfield was sentenced.

Mr Justice Saini had sentenced Belfield to two-and-a-half years for stalking one of the complainants, Bernie Keith.

He did so after the prosecution told him the maximum sentence for this offence was five years, but the maximum sentence is actually 10 years.

Judges are able to vary sentences under section 385 of the Sentencing Act 2020, but the judge decided not to.

Permission to appeal

"The Crown makes no submission that the overall sentence was, given the new knowledge of the legal position, inappropriate or unduly lenient," said Mr Justice Saini at Leicester Crown Court.

"Bearing in mind the need for an overall proportionate sentence and the principle of totality, I am not satisfied that my final overall sentence of five years and 26 weeks would have been substantially higher had I been made aware of the correct legal position on count 5 [the charge relating to Bernie Keith]."

The Court of Appeal has confirmed Belfield has made an application for permission to appeal his sentence, but said this is "still in the very early stages of the process".

Belfield made videos throughout his trial and posted them on YouTube

Labour MP Barry Sheerman is calling for an independent inquiry into how the BBC treated female staff who were harassed online by Belfield.

Although jurors found Belfield not guilty of stalking Liz Green, Rozina Breen, Helen Thomas and Stephanie Hirst, Mr Justice Saini said Belfield had harassed them, and he made restraining orders to protect them in future.