A former BBC local radio presenter who stalked broadcaster Jeremy Vine has been returned to prison for violating his licence conditions. Alex Belfield was sentenced to five years and 26 weeks in September 2022 for causing alarm and distress to two victims and stalking two others, including Mr Vine.

On Thursday, the Prison and Probation Service confirmed Belfield had been recalled to prison last month. Television personality Mr Vine previously branded Belfield "the Jimmy Savile of trolling" during his trial at Nottingham Crown Court. Jurors found Belfield guilty of four charges committed between 2012 and 2021. As part of his sentence, he was made the subject of restraining orders which ban him from contacting his victims. The Prison and Probation Service did not disclose how he breached his licence conditions.

Belfield, whose YouTube channel titled Alex Belfield – The Voice of Reason still has 345,000 subscribers, was released from prison last year.

On January 25 this year, Belfield spoke in an interview with podcaster Liam Tuffs on YouTube about how he had been made the subject of a "court order that we cannot cross".

A spokesperson for the Prison and Probation Service said: "As this case shows, we do not hesitate to send offenders back to prison if they break the rules."

In an interview with The Times, Mr Vine candidly said he had several restraining orders against Belfield.

"I expect he will set up again as ‘The Voice of Reason’,” said Mr Vine, referring to Belfield's YouTube channel, "He’ll have his little merry band of followers."

The father of two also shared that his terrifying stalker hell inspired his new book, Murder on Line One. The plot is set at a Devon local radio station and follows talk show host turned detective Edward Temmis, who tackles numerous murders.