Alex Belfield

Belfield's career began as an entertainer in Nottingham at the age of 14.[3] His career has spanned television, radio and print. He was responsible for stories on the front pages of The Sun, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express.[4] He worked at Mansfield 103.2 FM in the early 2000s.[5] He presented the mid-morning show on BBC Radio Leeds. In 2010 he made lewd comments about weather presenter Keeley Donovan's broadcasts at home that resulted in complaints from listeners. As punishment, Belfield was suspended from the station for a day and strongly reprimanded by BBC bosses. He later described his time at Radio Leeds as "the worst year of my life".[4]

Belfield went on to claim online fame through his YouTube channel called The Voice of Reason.[4] He used the channel to promote his anti-establishment and right-wing ideology,[6] broadcasting from home in the Mapperley area of Nottingham.[1]

In a video on 22 March 2021 he said he had been living through hell for the past year and a half. He said that a witch-hunt against him had been orchestrated by the BBC in collusion with Nottinghamshire Police. He claimed he had been arrested four times and had had his house raided twice without a warrant.[4]

On 18 June 2021 Belfield was summonsed to appear at Nottingham Magistrates' Court, where he was charged with 12 counts of stalking "involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress" on 1 July.[7] On 29 July he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court and was alleged to have stalked eight people between November 2012 and March 2021, including BBC staff members Stephanie Hirst and Jeremy Vine. He denied all charges and was released on conditional bail. He appeared at the Crown Court on 4 November for a case management hearing and stood trial on 4 July 2022.[1]