Summary
Alex Belfield Reports as a journalist in regard to his stalking allegations in Nottingham Crown Court
the world this is the voice of reason my name’s alex belford oh i forgot to put my go live sign on we’re on air so we press that and piv poof there it is it is a thursday evening uh it is uh currently 8 40. uh i thought i’d do this live uh because quite frankly i haven’t the energy to pre-record it so let me tell you what happened today uh so yesterday we started with bernard spedding you might get a little bit confused because burn and spreading is actually bernie keith that is his name at bbc radio northampton he’s accusing me of stalking along with seven other people in a case uh which is rv alex bellfield the crown against me uh he’s witnessed seven i think two more to go uh to put it into context to um it’s very complicated this case but an email was written by somebody a couple of years ago and i believed it to be uh bernie keith the man you’re going to hear from now that was revealed in court today uh in fact yesterday uh in a transcript i’m going to read for you in a moment uh they played the video of that and that video told the story of what happened uh this uh email was written anonymously and it was published by a man called ben hewitt who will be a witness tomorrow he says i’m stalking him um and that was published on twitter it was up for uh hours and hours and hours before being deleted and apologized for and retracted by ben hewitts i kept asking uh to find out from the bbc lawyers bernie rpc nicola kane nick wilcox who wrote it they wouldn’t say we established in court today they admitted that they didn’t tell me and they wouldn’t tell me no matter how many times i asked that is the basis for the stalking uh as you heard going to hear um i sold stories to the papers uh you’ll hear about that one of the stories was that bernie on air had said about one of his bosses don’t come in here or i’ll punch you that made it into the sun and he felt this was victimization which you will hear in the transcripts so let me just read you a bit from yesterday um this is the uh video i made after months of asking uh would you please tell me who did this um who who was the email from uh ben hughes published it but refused to tell um and i made a video finally uh saying uh it was it was entitled liar ben hughes bbc’s bernie keith for defamation libel uh court claim it said hi everyone welcome back to celebrity radio it’s alex belford with a one-off video i have never in my 25-year career had to make a video like this before uh but something happened last month that also has never happened before i’m very used to being attacked and argued with and disagreed with but uh when you come out with the opinions i do some people do and don’t like it most people agree with you but won’t tell you of course and there’s the odd anomaly where someone just doesn’t like you they’ve never met you and their aim is to destroy you and that’s exactly what’s happened with a man called ben ben hughes last month who i’ve never met i don’t know i don’t care about uh he’s not on my radar this was read out in court yesterday at the beginning uh of mr uh bernard spelling bernie keith’s speech took it upon himself to publish an email of lies that uh email of lies we believe was written by a man called bernie keith from bbc radio northampton that was yesterday so we’re going to get to today and the cross-examination will be at the end that is with uh david uh aubry qc david aubry mr john mcguinness qc was asking the questions first uh to mr speding he has got special measures so he was behind a curtain the gallery uh public and i couldn’t see him uh so that’s that i think i think that sets it up perfectly so i’m going to read you the transcripts now forgive me it is very late uh i’ve been for my dinner and we are going to begin with the transcripts uh this is what was said in court now it began by qc mcginnis explaining he didn’t want to play the video but he was going to read the transcripts he then explained that these transcripts are computer generated and therefore do have mistakes so he didn’t play the tape for this one so he asked bernie to recall what he thought i’d said in it and give a summarization of what had been said bernie keith said it was a summation of what had transpired since i sent the email admitting he had sent the email we later found out today it was admitted that they didn’t tell me until i was arrested so just to give you some context of this case so there’s an email that was written anonymously which i was quoted as saying i believed it destroyed my reputation in korea and nobody would tell me who it was until i was arrested and questioned by dc percival who eventually did confirm bernie said it was a summation of what had transpired since i sent the email to ben hughes who published it as mr bellfield saw it the video he was recollecting was filled with comments it called me the c word the f word saying that i was an evil liar he said he’d be there forever and haunt me forever it was 27 minutes 25 minutes maybe 18 minutes mr spedding said the judge interrupted how long was the video 18 minutes around mr keith said there was a part that said that i was a nasty militia c word the most nasty vicious he’d encountered in the business uh asked anyone and i will hound you for the rest of your life it said more of the same a trend will be uh calmly to begin he’s an eloquent man but then got more angry uh he was frightening to me he told the court i’ve just spent three priceless hours now qc started quoting transcripts so he’s quoting transcripts that he’d already explained from the videos were computer auto generated i just spent three priceless and revealing hours with nottingham police needless to say they had no idea about the unprovoked attack by ben hughes that was intended to destroy my life i said it was bernie speding’s vitriolic imagination they also understand why i wrote the emails i did talking about the legal emails that were read out in court yesterday begging them to tell me who wrote it and confirmed whether bernard spedding real name bernie keith on air had written it and they wouldn’t say he had or he hadn’t did the police ever record an interview with you no bernie keith said uh i’m the victim of an unprovoked attack you see went on to quote from the email bernie said that i hadn’t worked for the bbc for decades he told the court i’m a victim of career sabotage qc said quoting me were you under investigation uh he was asked and uh the bernie keith replied i told them from the off at daventry police that i sent that email no conclusion videos and crowdfunding came out saying that i refused to say that it was or wasn’t sent by me the lawyer i know he did write but uh won’t confirm any correspondence you did not was asked by the qc no bernie keith replied okay there was uh we then moved on to another email uh this was the bbc review video that was played last week so that video was played in the court i think for helen thomas where i talked about helen and rosina and the culture of bullying and all those things that were quoted in court um he said did you know about this video qc mcginnis asked bernie keith replied uh first time i’ve seen those words so we didn’t play the video they quoted the thing first time i’ve seen those words they then go through more and more emails do they ring a bell they do and then i wrote to the lawyers to get them to confirm he wrote it dot dot dot and then he turned the page to page six so he was taking things from different emails that had been written and quoted that in a program i said uh tweet bernie keith 100 asking me if he sent the email uh qc would you just write back why after 50 illegal legal letters that was me quoted why after 50 legal letters and a police inquiry why wouldn’t you just say you did or didn’t do it it was quoted from an email i said you’re looney tunes and in counseling it was quoted did you have counseling qc asked bernie keith said the bbc gave me counselling i had three sessions before lockdown i talked about my counseling on air i tried to make things funny i’d say people think i’m looney tunes i was referencing counseling but it didn’t work for me i found it very difficult my counseling counselor said turn down his volume turn up your volume or something like that i drove home from that session thinking that i could do it and then there were more emails screaming in my face it’s difficult turning the volume down when the emails are screaming in your face bernie repeated i stopped after three sessions i saw a stalking counselor that didn’t work for me i didn’t talk about it no reference to him qc uh he’s protected by the biggest media company in the country referring to the bbc uh he destroyed my career do you remember uh he said uh i wish a plague of locust on his penis i was quoted as saying in one of my broadcasts do you remember that oddly i remember the locust bit uh he said i was quoted from one of my videos you you’re a vicious man if you’re a lawyer who’s willing to work pro bono bernie keith tried to make lies come true by going to the police this is in reference to the first time before percival there was another officer called pc ryan rogue who will be giving witness statement tomorrow with witness evidence tomorrow in court i will be cross-examining him tomorrow before ben hughes i know this is complicated and i appreciate you sticking with me uh okay uh so uh tell me how uh it made you feel uh he said he’d be like a bad smell uh being around forever uh bernie keith said my initial reaction was that he’d gone mad then it was bewilderment uh you can’t work out how it’s happened i was a hero to him he admired me he mocked me then he contempt then vitriol then stories sold to the papers this thing was snowballing i can’t stop it and then you’ve got the proclamation of hate he’ll do it forever the industry has seen this bbc management assured me that people knew what he was like a bad smell forever i live in a small village i gave them all his name and a photograph any cars that i didn’t recognize i take photographs of i check my tires on my car i carried on going into work every day this uh hate naked hate he said to the jury i had to be funny and entertain people it was the darkest point of my life there was no end to it i had gone to people to ask them to stop pleaded to stop the police i pleaded to stop him to make him stop and it was getting worse i never will be able to work out why this has happened to me mr spedding told the court uh i bumped into him in december uh i said in a in the video that was quoted from transcript uh you’re a compulsive liar i said if you’re not uh by the vile bbc karma will get both of you i didn’t write anonymous emails to kill careers ben bernie i hope you sit proud you won’t silence me and i’ll follow you forever i know your bonkers and looney tunes why wouldn’t you just say sorry i said in a video let’s go to the next how does this compare this content was the question from the uh qc it’s similar uh bernie keith said qc said we have a partial transcript next so now we’re down to a partial transcript from isolation station on the 20th of may 2020 never met them before ben hughes printed lies mentally ill and looney tunes refused to deny even to the police they refused to say uh any recollection of this yes you saw it no bernie keith said you were told about it yes i was told about it uh qc essentially retiring from the business what was that yes i was aware what did you think lies i didn’t believe him this is in reference to that prank i did where i told them i was going to retire and go away because of the pressure and um and that it was all too much uh he gave reference to bernie keith 100 the twitter 8th of july was mr bellfield blocked on the 8th of july yes so you wouldn’t have seen it mr mcginnis the prosecution’s qc said no but i saw it you did i remember seeing that picture of me it was stolen from a private collection this is reference to a picture which was under the tweet he said i stole it from a private collection was it publicly available qc said it was used on my posters taken on screen grabs bernie keith replied were you made aware of this a link to a gofundme uh you were uh were you sued by mr bellfield no bernie keith replied uh asked to tell the jury the impact of these events relating to mr bellfield and how it affected him professionally bernard spedding said i’ve had to remove features from my broadcast putting people straight to air one of his supporters encouraged and say hi burn and we’d have some fun features had to be stopped i had threats physical threats and death threats so i wasn’t allowed to be in the building on my own referring to bbc radio northampton because of the tsunami of hate and the threats we had to have someone else in the building whilst i was on air death threats i had security to and from my car they walked with me to the station i had emails how in the subject it would say how many children have you abused this week to do those shows when you have no joy in your life or soul are so difficult to do the only thing i’m proud of is to have the courage to say i can get through it you can get through it and i keep all of it from my audience it’s a huge personal toll he then went on to talk about the effect it’s had on his career everyone now associates me with these words type my name into google and that’s the first thing that comes up liar in april last year i collapsed at my home and was taken to hospital and it transpired i had suffered uh perininitis the consultant said stress not looking after yourself wear and tear i can’t remember when i’ve had a run of good sleep he said i will prepare monday’s program and they will all be these thoughts in my head so i set my alarm clock early to get up to do the program i’m caught in this constant circle he told the court nothing is funny i had the perinitis and the operation on the saturday evening and on the sunday that man made a video saying sacked he presented an email at work that was an inocuous email that was all sent to 40 members of staff confirmed that someone in my workplace was giving him information to undermine my position i didn’t hear about this until tuesday presumably meant tuesday this week when reading the papers i didn’t uh hear about this until tuesday in reality i couldn’t speak or stand or sit uh i nearly died i felt i had to go on my facebook page and tell them why i was it was real life i had to explain i was very poorly i spoke to helen and she said you can’t i said you have to i said i have to get back on air on saturday and take back control and that was that there’s more thought that i can’t stop in my head there’s thoughts i can’t stop in my head and you don’t wake up in the morning and say i’m going to take my life today it’s a gradual thing if you’ve been beaten and beaten and beaten on one occasion i was at my computer when i googled uh what’s the best way to kill myself bernice betting told the court a little box comes up with a number to ring i clicked off immediately and carried on with my life it’s not a life it’s an existence i typed it in again this time i found the best way would be to hang myself it’s not an idiot’s guide it tried to talk you out of it you could be left there it doesn’t always work i didn’t want uh brain damage it could leave you with brain damage i wanted to die sometime later i went for a walk and i went to the fields and there were some stables and a rope a nylon rope i stole my friend’s rope and i put it under my coat and i walked home i walked up the drive i was so disgusted i had forgive me forgive me as he burst into tears in the court i have an out building and then i carried on again nine or ten months later people were supporting him referring to me alex bellfield police were meant to be stopping him the new pcc sent a tweet she was supporting him i felt and the home office were involved one sunday i went outside and got the rope and i opened the loft hatch and i put a chair underneath and i pulled myself up and attached the rope to the beam and i jumped down i wrote a letter apologizing and i went back up to the loft and i put the rope around my neck and i couldn’t do it my boyfriend took his own life in 1999 and i know the deep pain that never leaves you despite what he says people love me very much i couldn’t do it to them what i’ve been through since then referring to the suicide of his boyfriend there was a broadcaster who took his own life i remember reading the outpouring of grief from listeners and that would be me bernie keith told the jury i had this hope that one day i’d see my mum and dad again i’m so deeply ashamed i jumped down on the landing started uh staring at the abyss the alarm went off at 5am i prepared a radio show and did it and no one knew and no one asked i drove home and the blue rope was hanging down from the stairs i took the rope down and threw it in the bin and i prepared another radio show the irony that i reached out so that a disaster wouldn’t happen referring to the reasons why he wrote the email that was anonymous that he didn’t tell me about he said that he reached out to stop a similar disaster happening this will haunt me forever uh mr spedding told the court there’s press coverage for this trial i’m a little dj from a little town last week i had to ring my sister and tell her what i tried to do there’s no end to this pain i just want it to stop then this afternoon david aubry took to the stand for cross-examination he began by asking you first met mr bellfield when he was on a youngster at a radio station yes 17 a number of years i left in 2000 mr keith told the jury did you remain in contact sporadically in london mr keith said you recommend him for jobs uh he moved to london didn’t he we weren’t in contact but he got in touch with me mr keith said uh you and he would meet from time to time i remember once uh mr keith said you went to the producers with him didn’t you i don’t have a recollection of it seeing it with him uh he told uh mr aubry and the jury how many times did you see the producers then uh qc asked mr keith once i’m suggesting with him and you went for a meal after no mr keith said did you have a meal i can’t remember bernard spedding said it was opposite the theater where the producers was being performed qc said uh during the meal you became upset didn’t you i have no recollection mr spending told the court do you remember that you broke down and cried you said that you hated your life no qc you were dissatisfied with your life no what you were complaining about was that your career had stagnated whereas his mr bellfield had taken off do you remember that it didn’t happen sir said mr spelling qc he was working for a large radio station in london national you uh regretted uh your career it didn’t happen sir mr keith uh told the jury did you ever break down in tears i never did he replied uh you weren’t you weren’t together let’s talk about the next time you met and essentially uh that’s the only time is it i genuinely can’t remember mr spending said a friendly acquaintance from work i had his phone number he had my email address it was more than having uh an uh anonymous uh let me get that acquaintance i think your pardon it wasn’t just an acquaintance you were close weren’t you uh mr spending said uh uh no uh no was the phone answer he was seven he was a phone answerer he was 17 i was 37 as far as i recollect i can’t remember if he even came into the studio i wouldn’t say we were close as years went by though you became close colleagues didn’t you bernie keith i worked with him for months we were not close qc didn’t you have dinner with him in leicester you didn’t meet then bernie keith said i have a vague recollection in leicester qc said i can’t remember mr spelling said i have a vague recollection he’s insisting we did so i’m assuming we did you phoned each other weekly didn’t you that’s not the case mr spedding said qc format of your show is entertainment playing music yes interviews people coming on the air qc it involves an element of jokes doesn’t it yes do you tend to model yourself on kenneth williams and frankie howard you told us yesterday elements mr keith said uh some elements uh the dublin tundra that they’re famous for for example mr keith uh said yes sir it’s uh been around for 35 years risque comments even qc said that’s right near the knuckle yes that’s right you also performed on stage your shows were an extension no that’s not what i said you said an extension two are separate extension of your personality let’s talk about this fart jingle this was referenced at the beginning of the when he took to the stand yesterday there was a jingle of fart noise which was part of his repertoire qc said it’s a sound effect that i made myself through my mouth it indicates a fart doesn’t it yes it’s called a fart mr keith replied you’d use it during your radio show that’s right mr keith replied would you accept that your radio show facilitated your stage show mr spedding it was an audience in northamptonshire that would know me in edinburgh they had no idea who i was it was established earlier uh during the bit about the posters that he had an edinburgh show at the edinburgh fringe and then he did shows for his local listeners in northamptonshire where did you perform those shows northamptonshire northamptonshire area covered by your radio that’s right what size theaters 82 450 420 in the derngates 1100 sizable theaters then yes the audience pay admission not always mr speding said now many times you didn’t charge admission how many first one was a free event mr spending told the court so the other nine in theaters up to 1100 people weren’t free that’s right mr spedding replied what was the price most i ever charged was 18 pounds um so even these were paid out to you you were paid yes money left over where did that go i took some money myself and most of it i gave to rob adcock who sets up the shows let’s look at the 1100 full house was it was it a full house i can’t remember how many times i played there uh a couple of times they were sellouts give the jury some idea of what it you took 1100 seats how many times twice mr spedding replied how uh much each all the money went to rob for a second uh first one went to funds for edinburgh your fund but your show that’s what you mean your show yes we had a separate fund uh it was something like 22 000 maybe 24 000 pounds qc what about the other theater shows how much did these earn you personally uh royal shows i got 2 500 and the others similar amounts most went to robin the fund yesterday you told the jury four thousand pounds qc said that’s what i uh that’s what i earned four to five thousand pounds qc said is this reality that you were putting them on and making a financial profit mr spedding said i was making a few thousand pounds i made some money from it yes i do more than anyone in my audience for my audience uh than anyone i know uh qc said the cancer charity how many shows did you do for them donations from all the shows what amount qc said sometimes 500 a thousand rob did all that i didn’t do it qc help us with the bbc guidance on advertising personal events where personal gain is made you’re not permitted are you for personal advancement bk said uh that would be true i think uh but it’s elastic what do you mean by that when you broadcast to an audience they want to know what’s happening i would mention where i was playing that was permissible as was explained qc said the bbc were meant to be strict on advertising for personal gain yes mr uh spending bernie keith on air let’s just remind you mr spedding is his real name uh bernie keith is his name on air yes this was an extension of my act the bbc was more than happy for me to do it escalated to the heights of levels qc uh were they aware of financial gain were the bbc aware of financial gain they were mr spending said letters and emails that sort of numbers uh what what would you have in a week letters and emails uh mr spelling said hundreds all sorts of topics yes they were all read out they were all read out hundreds of letters most of them were read out that’s right qc said you weren’t selecting those letters it would not be right to do so mr spelling said but you would be giving details to tell people about your shows mr spelling said because people want to know qc said to get dates times and tickets for example like every other theater show that he promoted he said qc uh the ones where you’re appearing you get personal gain and money goes to charity you’re right bernie replied qc uh is there a prime time during your show in terms of the listening uh peak if you like is there a prime time no not best you pepper your information mr bellfield suggests that you had a peak slot it was certainly mentioned a couple of times mr spelling said i view every hour as prime time right let’s talk about pubs and flowers these were emails relating to prominence given to certain businesses i wrote to the press office and management to question why he was naming businesses on air in return for free stuff which i understood was against the rules pubs and flowers told the jury you were offering meals or sending flowers meals and restaurants who paid for those they did bernie spedding replied so the pubs and restaurants provide the meal and you’ll be telling the people where they’re going at whatever it was mentioning the name of the establishment that’s exactly right mr spending said so it’s a form of advertising for the pub and restaurant you’d mention the name for public consciousness no i wouldn’t and then aubry repeated again and he said yes that’s right uh qc uh they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts are they it’s to raise trade bernard spelling no sir they’re part of the local community and want to be part of the local radio show like mine i mentioned once a week not exactly sachi sachi advertising qc uh you’re not doing out of the goodness of their hearts are they mr spending no sir uh if it were against the guidelines it would have been stopped next we go to an email g7 from mr bellfield writing to you regarding advertising on bbc uh promoting your tour it wasn’t at all mr spending said it was a number of shows i can’t remember it was more than one qc a tour is more than one mr bellfield uses words it was called the tour that didn’t tour mr spedding said but you called it tor the qc said i said it was a tour that didn’t tour around march 2016 was it qc asked i can’t recall it would have just been one show mr spedding replied qc mr bellfield was commenting on your advertising on several occasions would that accord with reality uh mr spelling said that could have been i mentioned it twice in seven days or five times in seven days qc tell me about the peak i’ve never looked at radar ratings in my life if you preoccupy yourself with figures that’s how madness lies qc said you’re not concerned about rachel they’re the official ratings to tell you how successful you are in comparison to anyone else it’s not my job mr spedding replied he takes exception to huge personal profit by using bbc airtime qc said mr spelling replied after a gap i played the theaters in northamptonshire where people knew me i’m not on national i’m not a national figure i’m exceptionally popular in the area i did know more than a dozen 15 shows i stopped because of him qc said no you stopped because of covid mr spelling said no because of what i’ve been through qc said you achieved it by advertising on your radio didn’t you mr spelling said people come up because they like me so what do i do do i do them in secret and no one knows or mention them occasionally so those who want to come can buy tickets it was a regular thing wasn’t it qc asked no it wasn’t he doesn’t live in the area to hear it he was aware of it because he listened online as in as in an obsessive manner qc said you know about his obsessive manner do you yes the point he was making was about promoting shows for profit yes mr spending reply did you spend two minutes discussing your new show i can’t remember but it’s unlikely it will profit 30 000 uh over three shows mr bellfield said no that’s not right he told people i was the highest presenter outside of london how would he know qc said well that was part of the conversation you had with him at dinner in london he said that you have got to stop complaining because you didn’t like your life you were the highest paid presenter outside of london none of that happened mr spelling said i don’t know other people’s salaries qc said i’ve been sent veiled plugs of big announcement bernie keith said i have no idea what he’s talking about it’s six years ago do you remember i don’t sir no ad-libs cleverly scripted ad-libs i don’t know which one he’s referring to qc uh any ad-libs go on social media i don’t understand what ab libs are i can’t answer that one qc was it called an evening with bernie keith bernie keith i can’t remember i don’t think they had names so how would they be advertised if they didn’t have a name bernie keith said just bernie keith did you have posters they were all in the catalogues uh any form of advertising in theater brochures on one occasion i did a local newspaper mr keith told the court all more important than to mention it on your show wasn’t it no mr spedding replied another enthusiastic listener commented that he advertised the lighthouse show how curious to read this from pauline in the peak half hour i wrote i don’t understand what you mean i had a letter read out qc said you’re aware of the investigations carried out in the building were you aware of them mr spelling said no mr bellfield’s activities were kept away from me qc said were you ever asked about them no mr keith replied into the investigation into what i’ve written about the promotion the advertisement of his shows on the bbc qc said council tax any memory of council tax i read it several times everyone pays council tax do you remember your council tax correct me if i’m wrong yesterday you said you couldn’t remember mr spedding i talked about a thousand things yesterday qc he’s making the point that you said you’ve got a court case on the bbc i was sent a letter that i hadn’t paid my council text mr keith said on air qc mr keith of course what do you mean of course what’s the relevance of that uh mr spelling said everyone has council tax problems so i spoke about people in the council to be successful you speak about things people are interested in qc uh what uh please focus i interrupted actually qc interrupt and said please focus you spoke about your council letter why did you mention that you hadn’t paid your council tax mr spending because they will relate to it referring to the audience qc uh really giving this defense live on air saying he’s not guilty was a line uh quoted there’s no court case mr speding said or did you i have no idea mr spedding said i probably said it scares you or something there wasn’t a court case i dealt with it it wasn’t a matter of guilt or innocence significant enough though to mention interrupted again by bernie keith yes it is yes it is sir i bought a brillo pad the other day i thought i could get 10 minutes out of that people relate to it qc yesterday because i was ill is what you said that you hadn’t paid for it i think so you did qc told him mr keith it was a throwaway link jury are the jury to understand that you chose to mention that you received a letter that you hadn’t paid from your council tax and that was because you’d been ill mr spedding yes there was an issue with that did you give that impression i can’t remember i have no recollection mr speding said the council tax link i thought i had said i remember saying i made up parts of it what did you make up qc asked the court case element mr spending said qc am i to understand you mentioned receiving a letter and you said on air that there was a court case impending i don’t remember but let’s assume i did mr spelling said qc why did you have to make that up it’s comedy i made it up mr spedding said you wouldn’t dispute it in the email mr spelling i don’t remember doing that link referring to the whole bit on air right you remember making council tax yes i giving an explanation yes correct spelling said why would you make it what’s the point to entertain people to relate to people mr spence said you advertise now 10 times i don’t know sir bernard spelling said would you disagree could could be i i didn’t tell people about it for personal gain mr spelling said letters written by yourself it’s a total lie mr spelling denied uh you told us yesterday uh it used to happen yes noel edmonds in his autobiography 1977 mr spelling explained he’d make up letters he said he would make up letters from listeners and a desire to get uh get it done in 1969 qc said did you select them or read everything mr uh spedding said i tried to read almost everything qc you brought prizes yourself for live shows yes i did i paid for them did the bbc ever inquire for proof of your letters or emails no they did not it’s assumed that i would read them out authentically qc no one asked to prove what you read out in the building no 12 occasions in a week you apparently promoted your shows according to mr bellfield i doubt it if it were correct that would that would that would not be appropriate uh it depends on the context uh mr spedding replied i don’t think i would have done it not question i don’t think it would be appropriate uh so i don’t think it would be appropriate that’s why i don’t think i did it mr spelling replied but you mentioned it again i can’t remember mr spelling said qc the peak was nine to 9 30 at some point wasn’t it was it uh it varies qc tony and julie bbc employees at bbc leicester did you know them no they were due to appear in court for sexual offences weren’t they convicted and sent to prison did you make a joke about that i have no recollection mr spelling said did you say i don’t know how they find the time i wasn’t scripted i have no recollection mr spedding said qc bbc microphone to bully and encourage bbc uh encourage bbc colleagues you told us yesterday about a comment towards a colleague do you remember that i do it was john wasn’t it john griff what happened i had a dog at the time and john had told someone in reception that my dog had fouled the carpet someone passed that on to mr bellfield it was in fact a chocolate truffle not excrement i referred to it on air making a joke a light comment and i referred to john as the great hairy fool now you said fat twerp and bearded full mr spellings and i thought i would have said great hairy fool those of a certain aid will get the reference why would you say that qc asked i was intending to be funny mr spedding replied what did you say i really can’t remember did this female come what did you uh did did this email come to your attention yes what did you remember on air uh it was incredulous it was sold to the papers i apologize to john for the fuss you create this banter in a radio family these shows don’t stand up to analysis it’s entertainment is what mr spedding replied uh good evening by the way to everybody who’s here we are live at uh alex belfield.com uh reading the transcripts from today i did not have chance to pre-record them so we’re doing it live it is currently 9 20. did you mean to insult mr griff no it was jokey banter mr speding said what caused you to speak to john that email mr spedding said what made you think it was referring to john griff the expression bearded full mr spelling replied reputation of being a bully and humiliating other colleagues mr spreading no i don’t sir do you remember your show at the playhouse i do i think it was uh not sure because of the dates but i think it was this one uh we we do all of them for cancer research you wrote in uh and you said in a link written in an email by mr bellfield was that accurate every single one sure every single one uh you hesitated mr speding qc said i believe money went to cancer research from every single gig qc last three concerts generated twenty thousand pounds is that right i’ve no idea mr spelling said you have no idea of something like that i don’t know qc you don’t know mr spelling the money went to rob adcock my comedy manager qc you had no idea whether the twenty thousand pounds was generated mr spedding it’s very difficult now six years on uh and we’ve uh earned we needed 22 to 24 000 pounds to go to uh edinburgh so that would tally mr spending told the court that would tally thank you said my qc uh mr david aubry page 27 references made to 5800 for personal gigs he’s got that ticket price by ticket sold qc you don’t know how much you have made personally that figure i doubt was profit but i don’t know it was investigated by the bbc and all above board qc said bernie keith most clever ad-lib yet further promoted private concerts was there information on your facebook page referring to 33 adverts in an email mr belfield had sent to the bbc uh trust he was obsessively listening mr uh spedding said 33 adverts right or wrong mr spelling i don’t remember john gilmore who’s that a listener 30 plus adverts quoted gave the weather for edinburgh were you in a studio in northampton broadcasting to northampton the qc said people listen all over the world mr splatting replied why give the weather for edinburgh when you’re in northampton i gave the weather for helsinki in ibiza a couple of weeks ago it’s to talk about around the world to show that you’re not just one small place and you mentioned your forthcoming show in edinburgh didn’t you whilst doing the weather for edinburgh in northampton i may have mentioned i was doing my show from the bbc studios i don’t even remember saying this was he right about that were you advertising your fringe show i’ve no idea said mr spelling i was at the bbc for 15 years yesterday you said that man was not at the bbc for 15 years referring to me alex milfield but he was mr spedding wasn’t he he worked at a variety of stations for 15 years mr speding said no he didn’t he didn’t it didn’t accumulate to 15 years how do you know mr speding i heard some of them on bbc devon he did not work continuously for 15 years mr spedding did you speak upon qc did you create your own preoccupation about mr bellfield mr spending he replied all the abuse i stood affects you psychologically it would be fair to say i haven’t had a day in five years when he hasn’t been the first thing i thought of in the morning and the last thing before bed there was not an obsession no when i’ve tried to keep track you have to google the name there is a form of paranoia uh qc said you don’t over dramatize do you mr spelling no i would not he destroyed my life mr spedding said how do you know what he’s doing now mr spedding sometimes they’re sent to me i try not to i find it deeply upsetting qc another sense that you’re following him to see uh that he what he’s saying no i’m absolutely not mr spedding replied email sent to ben hughes 15 years he’s been uh harassing me and mocking me etc etc etc he’s got other targets in the theater world and stephanie hearst how did you know about her i spoke to her once mr spelling said before this email before i think so think carefully october 2019 this was written you wrote to mr hughes which lied uh which led to him i beg your pardon which led to him publishing had you spoke to her before i think so where did you get vile transphobic abuse from i heard his fanny on the someone posted it to me and pointed me in the direction by who sarah stratton mr uh spedding replied i spoke to stephanie about a work matter she’d overran an interview i lost my slot i said can you give me her number i’ll give her a ring and inquire why’d she overran nothing to do with mr bellfield then uh well why i was on i was talking to her about being attacked by mr bellfield stay strong i told her uh she said he’s a nightmare uh qc uh you don’t think having seen fanny on the to see i’m getting a similar treatment then not at this stage you didn’t feel like his behavior to you was similar to her and you contacted her when this happened no okay let’s talk about the 2000 emails to one presenter on bbc radio leads who i made a mistake mr spelling said who rosina breen mr spelling said you make a mistake what mistake was that i made a mistake she’s a manager and it’s 4 000 emails who told you my manager think carefully you thought how many 2 000 emails mister spelling replied yesterday you said 4 thousand qc aubry replied public domain newspapers uh that’s how i heard four thousand mr spelling replied where last week mr uh spending replied it was an email no no not an email i beg your pardon a text from someone i’ve been sent qc let’s tie this down during this course of the trial you found out 4 000 emails were sent yes from a friend concerned about me they did what they sent me a text asking me if i’m okay have you seen what’s in the daily mail i deleted it what number four thousand you’ve changed your evidence from two to four thousand i want to know why you did that you had a text during this trial asking if you’re okay followed by a text that had a number uh one before that you had seen what was in the papers you wouldn’t shouldn’t have been interested no so did you read it i know what i’m allowed and i’m not allowed to do qc someone sent you another text four thousand email to rasina no sorry i said i can’t talk about it and i closed it mr spelling said i deleted it from my phone i want to get to the bottom of this the qc set mr albright first uh text don’t refer to email but the third referred to 4 000 emails apart from that reference email sent to her was there anything else in the text no just a few words lines qc lines words on the phone four thousand emails to rosina who sent it johnny nibs he’s a friend does he work in the industry no he doesn’t qc you’re changing your evidence on what you read on what someone told you yes informed and fed to you mr spelling no nothing being fed to me you haven’t been checking have you i i’ve been too upset mr keith said you threatened to punch your boss on air didn’t you mr aubry qc said uh bernard spending i said something like i’ll punch his lights out qc referring to who mr spelling said david holdsworth in context it was a jokey manner i said i’ll smash your lights in did you say don’t come in here or i’ll punch you no are you popular at work yes why don’t you go upstairs because i have a dog why does having a dog prevent you going upstairs he was on a lead anyway so i kept away tell us about this table where you’d run around with the dog a boomerang table on that occasion we’d have fun with other stuff they’d take pictures the table’s upstairs yes so you would take him upstairs and people took pictures yes people didn’t object to that did they they enjoyed him being in the building qc said you said you didn’t go upstairs because of the dog but when you did they loved it mr spelling i appear not to win if i go upstairs that’s wrong if i stay downstairs qc you didn’t go upstairs because you’re not a popular person in the office are you mr spending no i bought everybody’s bagels on bagel friday this man has never stepped a foot in the office at bbc northampton referring to me you believe there’s someone giving him information don’t you it had to come from one of 44 people qc so somebody’s giving information to mr belfield mr spelling yes you said you won’t go to parties yesterday christmas parties i don’t feel very comfortable because it’s hard to trust people mr spending said you’re a bully and regarded as such aren’t you mr spedding they do not regard me as that it’s unlikely i would have sustained a career of 22 years at the bbc if i was a bully qc mr johnson horton jason horton i beg your pardon mr jason horton responded publicly and liked a tweet by mr bellfield did you speak to him uh mr spedding no i didn’t as far as he’s concerned he didn’t i spoke to mr stewart stuart thomas the head of bbc midlands mr horton was the head of bbc south region he was mortified so they’re equal in position mr thomas and mr horton that’s right you suggested he was hacked yesterday he couldn’t work out how someone liked to tweet when he didn’t let’s go to the mk theater on the uh on your guard you looked carefully around you were on your guard weren’t you yes you were in the bar in the theater yes a big theater yes having looked carefully you were satisfied you hadn’t seen mr bellfield that’s right you saw him in front of you he said hello and looked up you said what qc asked nice to see you i said something like that he asked you a question didn’t he cutesy asked did you send the email mr spelling replied and you said no you said no qc replied mr keith i feared meeting him for so long you ran back to the car didn’t you mr spedding no there were glass doors i remember thinking come on come on open the doors there was an alleyway and i did run to the car from there did you have to run a long distance mr spedding probably not 20 foot mr spending replied got into the car and who are you with my producer sarah stratham qc were you shaken and upset i was upset it was dark they couldn’t see me what what did you say get well they couldn’t see me because it was dark obviously in a distressed state you would agree i i i was aggravated uh guess who i’ve seen i beg your pardon i articulated i begged it aggravated i articulated guess who i’ve seen and what was the response the qc said not bradley walsh it was joe pasquale who was in the pantomime wasn’t it no bradley walsh uh well i said bradley walsh it was joe pasquale yesterday you used the expression mr bellfield was wired up about his personality i have no idea mr keith said you gave the impression to the jury he followed you and hid from you where was he hiding i didn’t say he’d been hiding mr spedding said why wired up you just came to that conclusion wired up it’s suggestive isn’t it that he’s prepared mr spelling i don’t think you go around with the mobile switched on so he saw me coming and he suggested he got his phone out out of his pocket and switched it on and started recording missed uh mr aubry qc he had a mobile phone which has a recording facility as well you know they’re on all phones yes uh they do yes mr spedding replied mr bellfield references mental and physical health in one of his emails yes do you remember what your response was i don’t your response was that he was on holiday in miami you said that he posted from there and he was having a good time in your statement uh mr spelling i believe it was his 40th birthday mr spelling told the court how do you know the qc said how’d you come to see the tweet because i saw the tweet you mean you looked for the tweet i looked for the tweet why a man who had terrorized you would you look for the tweet i was living in fear so you try and control it by knowing what he’s doing qc you were following him mr spedding i refute that i was not following him i was making sure a man who followed me at the theater was not doing any more qc when he was in miami you remember what what what date was that mr spedding in january had you come off twitter by then mr aubry ask you see uh bernie spelling i blocked him by then but if you blocked someone you can still see them by looking for them qc you still went to the length to follow him mr spelling it was to see if he was hurling abuse at me or other people qc let’s talk about pompous prick thrilled to send a tape of bbc employee at the christmas party did you use that expression pompous prick no pompous prig i said it was gathering at the christmas party he explicitly asked if i would attend the new boss and to host the quiz i said someone would you like a chocolate the next day and they said no i made up a scene and created the phrase pompous prick i don’t know how to make chocolate i made it up qc chocolates were involved yes they would have been biscuits chocolates though were involved yes with the conversation i i went around with a box of celebrations at the christmas party he’s referring to qc well forgive me uh failing to understand why did you call a person a prick mr spending i didn’t to their face it was a fantasy on air an unnamed character i created that when you’re right you create a fantasy not lie qc was it northampton colleague bbc northampton colleague mr speding that i offered the chocolate to yes you you did you say on air it’s a fantasy no i created a scenario qc what i’m asking you on air did you prefer did you refer to the person as being a colleague no i did not in the conversation face to face but on air it was a scenario that didn’t happen how did that become pompous preak why would you use that at all it wasn’t aimed at anyone on air mr spelling said i want to know why you chose pompous prick mr spedding i have no idea it was a throwaway and i thought it suited you went to the police in davantry didn’t you qc asked i phoned the head of daventry police he suggested going to the police station i said uh it was said to be dealt with by nottinghamshire police it was passed on i was told to wait you see nottingham police did they get in touch yes pc ryan rowe he’ll be uh giving a statement tomorrow and i’ll be cross-examining pc ryan rowe by the way tomorrow at nottingham crown court qc he was going to take it further uh vernon spedding he’d already been sent the email to mr hughes he’d already been sent the email uh that i sent to mr hewitt’s qci as in bernard spedding the anonymous email talked about for the last few days qc things were taken up by knott’s police fact is you do remember that mr bellfield said he’s done everything to avoid litigation everything to avoid litigation yes mr spence said he’s threatened to take legal action if you’d threatened not to take legal action if you’d have admitted sending it didn’t he do you remember that i do throughout post demanding you sent it and apologized for it throughout he uh he demanded you sent it and apologized for it yes qc in milton keynes what he asked you and you said no yes mr spedding replied he wanted an apology didn’t he you never did provide that information and confirmation to him did you no not to him but i gave it to the bbc and the police they didn’t pass on either did they i was advised to have no contact with him by the bbc you denied it didn’t you i was scared i wanted it to go away that was the end of questioning by qc aubry the judge said i have one question the 2000 emails help with your knowledge at the time for getting anything subsequently 2 000 emails was was the source helen grimes who was that the station editor at bbc northampton bernie speding on air as bernie keith replied right that’s it that is your court report and i’m going to uh not do i think any more of these lengthy ones because i think i’m probably coming to uh the end of my energy levels for this it is exhausting in court to keep writing so what i’m going to do from tomorrow is do you a five minute which you’ll get first here at secret vu r uh like i’ve done today an edited version for youtube which they still haven’t seen yet you get it first here at secrets voir i will put that video on for them now um and then i’ll do the same for you tomorrow tomorrow we have pc ryan rowe i’ll bring up today with that and also ben hughes is the next witness that’s it for me thank you for joining us here at secret voi this will not be on youtube for anyone else it is for you and that is the unedited version that is what happened in reality that’s the transcripts of the word said and uh that is that for today i make no comment uh you will never get a comment out to me until this is resolved it’s not me being cagey or anything i’m not allowed and we won’t be doing that and of course the case continues at nottingham crown court have a wonderful evening six scott tomorrow we’ve got big news by the way lots of things happening in the world that i need to tell you about the biggest story which is so sick on the day when the bbc i’ve had to apologize again over bashir and panorama and that sick abuse of our princess that prince william said uh killed his mother and he’ll never forgive for what they’ve done while they’ve apologized today and tiggy and the and the slight on her well we have another story which is equally appalling unrelated to the nonce factory now they’re going to say low level child porn uh internet searches and viewing will not be prosecuted i have some very strong opinions on this tomorrow 6 a.m i think this is one of the darkest days if we’re now basically legalizing watching children being raped okay that’s it for me i love you and there’s nothing you can do about it