Alex Belfield: Women harassed online accuse BBC of failing to help

Female BBC employees who were harassed online by erstwhile vigor presenter Alex Belfield person accused the corp of failing to assistance them.

The BBC is conducting an interior reappraisal "to found what lessons tin beryllium learned", but the women privation an autarkic probe oregon review.

The assemblage recovered him not blameworthy of stalking the 4 different complainants.

However, the justice made restraining orders successful narration to each 8 complainants, saying successful respect to the women: "Each of them suffered a run of harassment by email and societal media communications. Each of them suffered superior intelligence wellness problems arising from Mr Belfield's conduct."

The complainants see BBC Radio Leeds presenter Liz Green, who worked with Belfield erstwhile helium was a presenter astatine the station.

"We privation an autarkic investigation, without a doubt, due to the fact that we were near hung retired to adust really, for a decade, and whenever I asked for assistance it ne'er came," she said.

"I asked repeatedly for help. I was receiving emails, YouTube videos and tweets which were defamatory and damaging. I wanted it to halt and I was told determination was thing that could beryllium done.

"My intelligence wellness has been destroyed. I've been suicidal. My assurance successful what I bash and who I americium is eroded, and I consciousness fto down by my employer."

The different complainants seeking an autarkic probe are Rozina Breen, who was Belfield's brag astatine BBC Radio Leeds, Helen Thomas, who had been Ms Breen's boss, and Stephanie Hirst, who joined BBC Radio Leeds arsenic a presenter aft Belfield left. Only Ms Green and Ms Thomas inactive enactment for the BBC.

Ms Breen near the BBC successful May and is present CEO and editor-in-chief for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

"Although the [not guilty] verdicts of the 4 Leeds women were devastating, the judge's sentencing connection was a turning constituent - it fundamentally validated what we had each lived done for implicit a decade," she said.

"We were BBC employees doing our jobs, targeted due to the fact that we were successful those jobs. At 1 constituent successful tribunal I was asked by the prosecuting KC what it had been similar and I replied that it felt similar 'having a noose astir my cervix passim my BBC career'.

"I bash judge determination were catastrophic failings with regards to america successful presumption of work of attraction and our wellness and information and, arsenic such, person asked for an autarkic review."

Belfield started a YouTube transmission aft helium near the BBC and utilized this to harass his victims, arsenic good arsenic posting messages connected societal media and sending emails.

The judge, Mr Justice Saini, said that portion Belfield did not physically attack oregon ticker his victims his methods were "in galore ways overmuch harder to woody with".

However, Ms Breen said the BBC had not taken the effects of the harassment seriously.

"For the archetypal 7 years oregon truthful of his trolling, from 2011, we were asked to not look astatine violative material, to delete it and/or guardant it on, and successful 1 lawsuit my brag [Helen Thomas] says she was told to "man up" by a antheral elder leader," said Ms Breen.

"At nary clip did the BBC refute publically what was being said astir america - defamatory, vile and abusive comments, reputationally damaging and mentally exhausting and, astatine times, debilitating.

"I person written to the BBC saying that determination are lessons to larn intelligibly and that the toxic quality of online hatred volition lone get worse for staff. It's not capable to permission america to descend oregon swim, arsenic we had to successful this case."

During the proceedings Belfield work retired what are known arsenic "agreed facts", which are facts agreed arsenic grounds by the prosecution and defence.

According to these agreed facts, determination was an interior BBC probe successful narration to correspondence Ms Green received from Mr Belfield. However, it was decided the monitoring should not continue, due to the fact that the emails were "inoffensive", "non-threatening", and Mr Belfield was deemed to airs "no hazard to BBC staff".

Ms Green believes the BBC's inaction mightiness person influenced the assemblage and led to their not blameworthy verdicts.

"I tin lone speculate that due to the fact that it went connected for truthful long, and the BBC did not enactment to support us, they [the jurors] thought it cannot person been arsenic atrocious arsenic it was," she said.

"The justice intelligibly recognised what we had endured, and we got restraining orders."

Also mentioned successful the agreed facts was an interior BBC email which said Mr Belfield was deemed to contiguous "no idiosyncratic danger" to different complainant - BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernard Spedding - oregon immoderate different BBC staff.

However, the proceedings heard that Mr Spedding astir killed himself arsenic a effect of Belfield's harassment.

"He was seconds distant from taking his ain beingness arsenic a effect of your conduct," the justice told Belfield successful his sentencing remarks.

"You made this highly palmy and assured vigor presenter suffer each joyousness successful beingness and turned him into a shell."

One of Ms Green's main concerns is that the BBC has nary stalking policy.

"I truly bash privation that to happen," she said. "Digital stalking, which is what happened here, is progressively prevalent and precise damaging, and I consciousness determination needs to beryllium a strategy successful spot to support the idiosyncratic being stalked."

The reappraisal volition beryllium led by Peter Johnston, the BBC's lawman manager of editorial standards.

According to an interior email, the purpose is "to supply recommendations to the BBC connected however it tin champion enactment colleagues facing online stalking oregon important societal media harassment".

A connection from the BBC property bureau said: "We cognize this has been precise hard for those progressive and we proceed to supply enactment to existent and erstwhile staff.

"We besides privation to larn from this to guarantee we connection the champion imaginable enactment to each colleagues, who whitethorn sadly acquisition the menace and risks of online stalking successful the future."