Detective Constable Janet Percival has won her libel action against the disgraced radio presenter, who was convicted of criminal harassment in September 2022 and sentenced to five and a half years in prison

Former BBC presenter Alex Belfield has been ordered to pay substantial damages after the convicted stalker falsely accused the Nottinghamshire Police detective investigating him of corruption.

Detective Constable Janet Percival has won her libel action against the disgraced radio presenter, who was convicted of criminal harassment in September 2022 and sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

In July 2020 DC Percival was put in charge of the criminal investigation into complaints by a number of individuals, including broadcaster Jeremy Vine, of harassment and cyber stalking by Belfield. He then started broadcasting YouTube videos which made very serious allegations against Janet Percival, all of which were untrue.

Over the course of some 15 videos, he accused her of numerous acts of misconduct and corruption including acting unlawfully in police raids on his home, repeatedly lying to the courts, making threats against him, changing a witness statement to mislead the court, receiving corrupt payments, and unlawfully taking equipment from him. Belfield dismissed DC Percival’s legal letter, prompting her to start court proceedings for libel – a statement about someone that is untrue and would harm the reputation or livelihood of that person.

After losing the case, Belfield will have to pay the officer a substantial sum for compensation and legal costs, and in court he offered a “sincere and unqualified apology” for the embarrassment and distress caused by his lies. DC Percival’s solicitor, Jeremy Clarke-Williams of Penningtons Manches Cooper, told the court that: “As a serving police officer Janet Percival is unfortunately used to dealing with hostility from people she has arrested, but Alex Belfield’s online campaign peddling serious untruths about her was something she could not ignore. It was too damaging.”

The detective explained her court victory would allow her to focus on policing without Belfield’s false allegations hanging over her. “I am very pleased that through taking this action I have been able to vindicate my reputation, which is very precious to me,” she said.

“I take pride in always conducting myself professionally and honestly as a police officer, and the baseless and false allegations which Mr Belfield broadcast about me were extremely upsetting. It is a huge relief that I can now get on with my police career without this cloud hanging over me.”

Nottingham Post

Thomas Connington was given a lifelong restriction order in 2017 after setting fire to an Edinburgh mosque.

A man jailed for trying to burn down a mosque has been sentenced to a further 10 years for “premediated, sadistic and violent” attacks on four other prisoners.

Thomas Connington, 36, pleaded guilty to attacking the four men at HMP Perth between May 2021 and June 2023, while subject to a lifelong restriction order imposed following the 2016 attack on the Central Mosque in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh High Court heard he threw boiling water at inmate Gordon Simpson on May 20, 2021, causing him second-degree burns, and on August 13 that year he used a toothbrush with a razorblade embedded in it to slash Adam Fraser, permanently disfiguring him.

He then attacked inmates Liam Russell and Sam Roan with a toothbrush with a blade in it on June 23 2023, leaving the men seriously injured and permanently disfigured.

Judge Lord Fairley told the court the attacks were “premeditated, sadistic and violent”.

He told Connington: “In 2017 you were made subject to an order for lifelong restriction.

“The judge who imposed the order described you as someone who relishes violence and who may attack strangers randomly and without reason. That description seems to me to be emphatically borne out.”

He told Connington that it was up to the probation service to decide whether or not he should ever be released from his lifelong restriction order, but warned him each new offence “decreases the likelihood you will be deemed suitable for release back into society”.

“The only person who can change that will be you,” he said.

He sentenced Connington to a further 10 years in prison, to begin as soon as his existing sentence ends.

Connington, who attended the hearing via videolink from HMP Low Moss, showed no reaction as the sentence was handed down.

Earlier, prosecutor BJ Gill KC told the court that Connington had “numerous previous convictions for violence”, including a number of attacks on fellow prisoners.

Connington’s advocate, Kris Gilmartin, acknowledged there was “scant mitigation” for his client’s actions, but said they arose as a result of conflict with other prisoners, and were never directed at prison staff.

Evening Standard

A RACIST thug with 20 previous convictions has been jailed for nearly four years after he hurled a petrol bomb at an Edinburgh mosque.

Thomas Conington was yesterday sentenced to a minimum of three years and nine months for the attack, which took place at the Central Mosque in Potterrow on September 18 last year.

It marks the latest in a string of convictions dating back to 2004, ranging from assault, armed robbery, vandalism and fraud to theft, possession of a bladed article and assault to permanent disfigurement.

The 29-year-old, who sports a swastika tattoo on his chest, was also handed a lifelong order of restriction, making him subject to imprisonment or supervision for the rest of his life.

He had previously pleaded guilty to wilful fire-raising, behaving in a threatening 
manner and a charge under 
the Explosives Act at the High Court in Glasgow – all aggravated by religious prejudice.

Having spent his life in and out of court, it is not the first time that Conington has targeted Edinburgh’s Muslim community.

In 2015 he was jailed for eight months for a separate attack on the Central Mosque in which he set fire to a seating area.

Conington, then 27, doused tables and chairs with flammable liquid before setting them alight, running off when a workman spotted what he was doing.

Conington’s violent streak also emerged in 2012 when he was jailed for assaulting a worker at a Chinese restaurant in Gorebridge.

He was discovered on top of the victim with his hands around his throat when a colleague at the Kwei Lin restaurant rushed in when the victim yelled for help. Conington was jailed for eight months.

Meanwhile in 2010 Conington was given 20 months behind bars after he slashed the face of a fellow inmate in Saughton Prison.

The attack came after Conington was invited into Paul Fegan’s cell to borrow a DVD player.

Conington saw his fellow prisoner move towards him with “a look in his eye” and pulled out a razor blade before slashing Mr Fegan on the face.

The court heard that the two men got on well together in prison but they had had problems, with Mr Fegan circulating rumours that Conington was gay.

Conington raised a middle-finger to those seated in the public gallery as he was led to the cells yesterday, having previously been described as a “racist individual”.

Judge Lord Burns said: “As stated, you are a bigot and have a long history of behaviour of that nature.

“The risk assessment gives a chilling insight to your attitude towards ethnic minorities.

“You appear to be someone who relishes violence and may attack strangers randomly and without reason. The risk is a high one and the public require protection from you for a very long time.”

The Scotsman

An East Lancashire teenager tried to import a prohibited firearm to the UK and paid for numerous hoax bomb threats on hotels.

Marco Roberto Gill, 19, of Alden Close, Helmshore, tried to order a .38 calibre Smith and Wesson pistol to his home, before USA security services intercepted it.

Preston Crown Court heard the weapon was seized and a fake put in its place before the parcel, containing surveillance equipment, was opened by Gill.

Police then arrested the defendant at his address and seized the fake gun, the phone used to order it, and a computer owned by Gill on April 10, 2023.

On the computer, police found far-right wing political ideology and images, including information on Britain First, a far-right, British fascist political party formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party.

Prosecutor Paul Mitchell told the court that Gill also paid an online user named ‘You’re a victim now’ using cryptocurrency to call UK hotels with hoax bomb threats using an automated message.

The user played an automated message that stated “Attention. We have posted an explosive device that will detonate at this hotel. Evacuate immediately.”

These hotels housed legal and illegal migrants seeking asylum in the UK on behalf of the Home Office and caused major disruption and panic in areas such as the Best Western in Nottingham, Holiday Inn at Rotherham, and Atrium Hotel in Feltham, which is two miles from Heathrow Airport.

Mr Mitchell said: “The staff that picked up these calls believed them, and all rang the police in panic.

“One manager and her employees say they are still anxious since the call.

“These calls resulted in hours of disruption, with a large emergency response in Nottingham including five police cars, two soldiers from a bomb disposal unit, and seven ambulances.

“The type of gun that Gill ordered could easily kill one or two people in short succession.”

The Crown also submitted evidence that Gill harassed Nick Lowles, the chief executive of ‘Hope Not Hate’, a charity that ‘exposes and opposes far-right extremism’.”

The court heard that over a 12-month period, Gill sent 48 food deliveries to Lowles’ address, and paid £300 to acquire Lowles’ personal mobile phone number.

Lowles has been a frequent victim of far-right wing parties, with Gill causing him “considerable inconvenience and stress” that a perpetrator was aware of his home address.

In mitigation, Mark Stuart told the court Gill had ordered the firearm in self-defence, believing it would “frighten off any intruders to his house”.

He said: “I submit the fact that he had not ordered ammunition as evidence that he did not intend to use the gun.

“He ordered the firearm in his own name, with his own credit card and to his home address.

“With an Asperger’s and autism diagnosis, he will experience bullying in prison and will find it difficult to join in group work.

“He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and is still at quite a young age, under 25 years old.”

Gill pleaded guilty to attempting to possess a prohibited firearm, three counts of communicating false information with intent, harassment, and making malicious communication.

Judge Neil Flewitt KC sentenced Gill to four years in custody and handed him a crime prevention order for five years.

He said: “You are now 19 years of age, but committed most of these offences at 18.

“You have no other previous convictions and have a diagnosis of Asperger’s, a form of autism.

“I have read letters from your mother and grandmother who detail the history of family death.

“I have also read your psychiatric report and accept that the psychiatrist believes you are particularly vulnerable to extremist ideology.

“It seems clear to me that radicalisation was a factor in your offences.

“These are three separate offences causing a degree of disruption using sophisticated technology, motivated by hostility towards migrants, asylum seekers or those who support them.

“I accept that your diagnosis and young age take part in your offending. It is not necessary for me to consider whether you are a dangerous offender.

“Nevertheless, although you are not an imminent danger to the public, you pose a high risk of serious harm that cannot be contained within the community.”

Lancashire Telegraph

A judge said Philip Murphy – who has a long history of committing serious violence – intended to intimidate and incite

A man used his revving motorbike to “incite” the crowd outside a hotel which was controversially earmarked to house asylum seekers, a court has heard. Philip Murphy also used the bike to “push” a police officer who was trying to keep the peace at the Llanelli demo before riding his machine into the hotel grounds.

Swansea Crown Court heard Murphy, from Swansea, has a long history of serious violent offending including multiple convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and inflicting grievous bodily harm. A judge said the 55-year-old defendant had gone to the hotel to intimidate and to incite the crowd to get out of control, and said the consequences of his actions could have been very serious.

Caitlin Brazel, prosecuting, said the incident happened at lunchtime on October 1 last year at the Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli. She said a large crowd of people had gathered outside the establishment, and that at the front of the crowd was Murphy on his orange motorbike.

At the time of the incident the hotel was at the centre of long-running demonstrations and protests revolving around Home Office plans to use it as a hostel for asylum seekers. The scheme was eventually dropped.

The prosecutor said Murphy repeatedly and excessively revved the engine on this motorbike and edged the machine forward towards officers. Police told the defendant to stop and to move back but he continued to rev the engine, saying he couldn’t hear what the officers were saying. On a number of occasions officers pressed the kill switch to turn off the bike’s engine but Murphy simply started the machine again and continued revving the motor and edging the machine forward using it to try to “push” a constable out of the way. The 55-year-old’s demeanour was described as “aggressive” and the PC became concerned for his safety and safety of his colleagues.

The court heard Murphy managed to get through the police line and rode his bike into the hotel grounds where officers tried to stop him and ask for his details but he rode off. However, the registration of his motorbike had been noted and checks showed the defendant to be the registered keeper.

When officers went to his house on October 14 they saw the orange bike parked outside and found a skull and crossbones face covering and helmet matching the items worn by the rider outside the hotel in the property. Officers seized the bike

Murphy, of Redwood Court, Heol Emrys, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 23 previous convictions for 69 offences between 1982 and 2002 including affray, obstructing a police officer, reckless driving, wounding, two for inflicting grievous bodily harm, and five for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Andrew Evans, for Murphy, said with the help of his partner the defendant had reflected upon his behaviour and had realised he should not have gone to the hotel in the first place and certainly should not have behaved in the way he did. He said it was clear from the contents of the detailed pre-sentence report on his client that “there are deficits in his thinking” and he said Murphy understood the seriousness of his position and understood that the court could send him into custody.

Recorder Mark Powell KC said claims made by Murphy to the author of the pre-sentence report that he did not really realise what he was doing outside the hotel were “nonsense”. He said the defendant intended to “intimidate” and to “incite”, and said in revving the engine of his bike Murphy was also “revving up the crowd”. The recorder said police had been trying to keep control of a difficult situation and “the last thing they needed was for some idiot to turn up on a bike”, and he told Murphy “effectively you were inciting the crowd to get out of control”. The judge said the consequences could have been “very, very serious”.

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Murphy was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months. He must also complete a rehabilitation course and do 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

The judge said Murphy had used his bike as a weapon and had the prosecution sought a court order for the defendant to forfeit the machine he would certainly have granted it, adding: “Had it been up to me, you would not have seen that bike again.”

Wales Online

Tommy Robinson supporter Marco Gill received 4 years in prison for targeted harassment of Nick Lowles, attempting to buy a gun and several bomb threats to hotels housing migrants.

In December 2023 Marco Gill, from Rossendale, plead guilty to five offences and was today sentenced to 4 years in prison. Over a six-month period Gill ran a campaign of harassment against HOPE not hate, especially targeting our CEO Nick Lowles.

Gill began his campaign of harassment within days of the release of Tommy, Nick Lowles’ expose of Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Lennon.

It began with regular nuisance phone calls to our office line where he would repeatedly play a recording of people chanting “Oh Tommy Tommy, Tommy Robinson.” Our investigation later proved that much of Gill’s harassment was inspired by his support for the far-right activist Steven Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson).

Not content with phone calls he then acquired the home address of two HNH staff members and began harassing them with unpaid takeaways, often late at night. Lowles received at least 48 such deliveries in a clear attempt at intimidation.

He also paid an as yet unknown individual in bitcoin to “swat” Lowles. Swatting is a method of deceiving an emergency service into sending a police response team to another person’s address. In the US, swatting has often led to armed officers storming an innocent person’s house.

Gill also plead guilty to three separate bomb hoaxes to hotels housing asylum seekers and calling the BBC and alleging that a man was trapped in a room where there was a gas leak. These offences are contrary to Section 51(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. The call to the BBC led to their Salford headquarters being evacuated.

The Gun

Most worrying is that Gill was found to have attempted to buy a gun online from America in the spring of 2023. Security services in the USA intercepted his attempt to order a .38 calibre Smith and Weston pistol.

The weapon was subsequently seized upon arrival in the UK and swapped with a fake replacement containing surveillance equipment before being forwarded onto Gill’s address. Police then seized the fake gun, the phone he used to order it and arrested Gill.

Tommy Robinson Supporter

In July 2023 HOPE not hate was contacted by the National Crime Agency, who informed them that a young man had been arrested for an unspecified crime and on his phone was the home address and phone number of Nick Lowles. The NCA merely said that he was a Tommy Robinson supporter but at that time they were unaware of the man’s campaign of harassment.

It was only when Lowles made a statement to the NCA that we were informed of the person’s name. Within minutes we discovered that he had been arrested for attempting to by a gun and within half an hour our research time discovered his social media profile. From there, we quickly learnt the extent of his radicalisation and the campaign of harassment he had waged against HOPE not hate.

We quickly discovered that Gill had recorded his pro-Tommy Robinson phone calls to our office and published them on his private Telegram account under a pseudonym. He even posted screencaps of one of the takeaways he ordered to Lowles home.

It’s clear Gill was a supporter of Lennon and was whipped up by his attacks on HNH. Gill’s Telegram account was a member of the ‘Tommy Robinson’s Official Telegram Chat’ channel where he is known to have posted numerous messages.

Gill appears to have joined the Tommy Robinson chat in the spring of 2022 and his radicalisation was brisk. Shortly before he was arrested, he had been advocating attacking pro-migrant activists and antifascists. He even offered his research services to the administrators of the Tommy Robinson chat.

While the National Crime Agency never discovered why Gill bought a gun, largely because Gill refused to answer questions during his interviews, it is not hard to see a link between this and his increasingly aggressive behaviour and racist narratives.

Gill’s harassment of HOPE not hate, and of Nick Lowles especially, came at a time when we were being viciously targeted by Tommy Robinson in anger at the release of Tommy and our repeated exposes of his financial shenanigans. Robinson’s online abuse led directly to dozens of death threats and threats of violence and intimidation. While most were from anonymised accounts, others were quite brazen in their threats.

At exactly the same time that Gill was sending takeaways to our houses, key Robinson sidekick Danny Tommo, was sending WhatsApp messages to Lowles threatening to come round and visit others in the household. Danny Tommo, real name Daniel Thomas, has previous been jailed for an attempted kidnapping in a drugs deal that went wrong.

Gill may have acted alone but he is just the latest troubled and vulnerable young men to have been wound up by Robinson’s hateful and violent rhetoric.

“For 6 months, myself and my colleagues were subject to a campaign of harassment by Marco Gill. He was determined to make our lives a misery including targeting my home on Christmas Day.

I want to thank the National Crime Agency for taking action on this case. Whilst it is important that justice was served, this case highlights the need for a greater focus on far-right extremism.

Marco Gill is a young man radicalised online who became obsessed and determined to do something about it. Sadly, this isn’t the first time we’ve experienced harassment, threats and abuse, and it likely won’t be the last.“

A statement from our CEO, Nick Lowles

Hope Not Hate

A teenager described by police as holding neo-Nazi beliefs has been convicted for having plans to attack a synagogue in Sussex.

Mason Reynolds, 19, from Brighton, faced one charge of possession of an article connected with the preparation of an act of terrorism.

Police searched Reynolds’ address where they found bomb instruction manuals and a note detailing his plans to attack a synagogue in Hove.

Reynolds was found guilty of the charge at Winchester Crown Court on Friday. He will be sentenced on 14 June.

Police said Reynolds shared extreme right-wing videos and praised attacks by far-right terrorists.

They said he was also the administrator of a Telegram channel which shared far-right extremist, antisemitic and racist views, as well as manuals on bomb building and how to 3D print firearms.
‘Cause pain’

“Mason Reynolds sought to spread hate and encourage acts of terrorism,” said Nick Price, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism and Special Crime Division.

Reynolds had previously pleaded guilty to five offences of possessing information which may be useful to a terrorist and five offences of disseminating terrorist publications.

Reynolds’ guilty verdict and with his earlier guilty pleas showed “that he not only held neo-Nazi beliefs but wanted to act on them to cause pain and suffering, which fortunately has been prevented and the public protected due to the work of the policing and prosecution team,” Mr Price said.

BBC News

Laurence Fox has been ordered to pay £90,000 in damages each to two people he referred to as “paedophiles”.

The actor-turned-politician lost a High Court libel case with former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal.

The remarks on X, formerly Twitter, came in an exchange about Sainsbury’s marking Black History Month.

Mrs Justice Collins Rice said the comments were “gross, groundless and indefensible”.

In a post after the ruling, Mr Fox said he intended to appeal.

The Reclaim Party founder – who said at the time that he would boycott Sainsbury’s – counter-sued the pair over tweets accusing him of racism and attempted to sue broadcaster Nicola Thorp for the same reason.

In January, the court ruled in favour of Mr Blake and former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Crystal, whose real name is Colin Seymour, and dismissed Mr Fox’s counter-claims.

The judge did not make a ruling on whether describing Mr Fox as “a racist” was “substantially true”, after finding the three tweets in his counter-claim were unlikely to cause serious harm to his reputation.

On Thursday, Mrs Justice Collins Rice said in her written ruling: “By calling Mr Blake and Mr Seymour paedophiles, Mr Fox subjected them to a wholly undeserved public ordeal.

“It was a gross, groundless and indefensible libel, with distressing and harmful real-world consequences for them.

“They are entitled by law to an award of money, to compensate them for those damaging effects, and to ensure that they can put this matter behind them, vindicated and confident that no-one can sensibly doubt their blamelessness of that disgusting slur and that they were seriously wronged by it.”

The judge said there was “no element” of punishment for Mr Fox in the judgement, with the damages due “purely compensatory”.

She said Mr Fox could be found guilty of contempt of court if he repeated the allegations against Mr Blake and Mr Seymour.

Mrs Justice Collins Rice said she accepted evidence from both of them that they experienced Mr Fox’s libel as “distinctively homophobic”.

The judge added that Mr Fox had tried to “attach blame and discredit” Mr Blake and Mr Seymour during the litigation, and hold them responsible “for a range of his own life’s adversities”.

She said the damages could have been a “multiple” higher had his victims not been “self-possessed, articulate, resourceful and resilient”, and had “powerful support publicly and privately” to avoid their lives and prospects being “ruined” by the ordeal.

Mr Fox, 45, unsuccessfully stood for London mayor in 2021 and went on to host a weekly GB News show before he was sacked in October last year over comments made on air about a female journalist.

He previously made his name as an actor, starring in ITV series Lewis, and is part of the well-known Fox acting family, which includes cousins Emilia and Freddie, brother Jack, father James and grandfather Robin. He has two children with ex-wife Billie Piper.

Ahead of Thursday’s ruling, Mr Fox described the original judgement as a “bullies charter” and said he disagreed “profoundly” with the result.

He vowed to appeal in a post on X and said: “You get the same wonga if you lose a leg at work. So surreal it’s almost funny.”

BBC News

Ian Delaney, formerly known as Ian Davison, was jailed for ten years in 2010 for offences including preparing acts of terrorism and is now back behind bars

Ian Delaney, aka Ian Davison (Image: Counter Terrorism Policing North East)

A white supremacist who once kept a chemical weapon in his kitchen cupboard has been sent back to prison for having “the most horrific” child abuse images.

Ian Delaney, aka Davison, was first person in the country to be convicted and jailed for producing a chemical weapon when he was locked up for 10 years in 2010 for offences including preparing acts of terrorism. Police had found deadly ricin in a jam jar when they raided his suburban home in County Durham in 2009.

Known as Ian Davison at the time, Delaney was a member of the Aryan Strike Force and he had set up a website for the group, which promoted violence against “non-white ethnic groups”. He was released in June 2014 but is subject to notification requirements under the Terrorism Act until the year 2045. This means he must keep the authorities informed about his internet access, phone devices, banking and other aspects of his day to day life.

He was jailed for breaching those requirements between March 2015 and January 2016 by failing to declare he had an internet enabled phone. Now, appearing at Newcastle Crown Court via video-link from HMP Frankland, he has been jailed for 44 months with a one year extended licence for further breaches of the order by having phones, a laptop, email address and cryptocurrency accounts that he had not informed the authorities about, as well as having vile images of child abuse and growing cannabis.

Prosecutor Peter Ratliff told the court a hard-drive and laptop seized during searches at properties linked to Delaney in 2021 contained thousands of child abuse images. Mr Ratliff said the hard drive contained a total of in excess of 3,000 child abuse images, with 1,281 being of the most serious category.

Delaney’s HP laptop contained a further 3,000 images, with 1,400 of them being the most serious category.. Mr Ratliff said the images were of the “most horrific nature” and added: “A detective constable reported that in his career these were by far the most extreme images and videos he had ever had to view.”

Further searches at Delaney’s home and allotment revealed he had been growing cannabis, with intent to sell it. Around £3,000 worth of the drug was found at his allotment.

Delaney, 55, of Longhirst, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, Teesside, admitted five charges of failing to comply with notification requirements, making indecent images of children as well as production of cannabis and possessing the drug with intent to supply.

As well as the latest prison sentence, he now has to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.

Tom Bennett, defending, said Delaney had become increasingly isolated but has support from his partner.

Detective Constable Dave Medd from the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) at Cleveland Police said: “This was one of the worst cases I have dealt with due to the disturbing nature of the images.

“The victims in these images suffer horrendous ordeals, and as a force we’re committed to doing everything possible to bring those who access such images to justice.”

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley said: “Those subject to notification orders are strictly monitored, and breaches of any kind are taken extremely seriously and will be prosecuted.

“We continue to work tirelessly alongside our partners to identify any further offending and ensure that individuals are brought to justice.”

Chronicle Live</strong>