Man convicted of harassment of journalists

A man has been convicted of harassing two journalists.

Stephen Lennon, 43 (27.11.1982), of Bedfordshire, was found guilty on Wednesday, 28 October of two counts of harassment causing fear of violence at Southwark Crown Court following a trial.

A Met Police spokesperson said: "There are legitimate and established routes that can be pursued by people who have concerns or complaints about their treatment by the media.

"In this case, Lennon chose not to follow any of these and, instead, issued various threatening online posts in the knowledge that they would almost certainly lead to his followers to target and intimidate those journalists, which is exactly what happened. This left them fearing for their own safety and that of their families – so much so that they felt compelled to take significant safety precautions including leaving their homes and hiring private security personnel.

"This kind of intimidatory behaviour is not acceptable, and anyone behaving in such a way to intimidate, harass and threaten others either online or in the real world can expect to be investigated and brought before the courts as was the case here."

Following the tragic events in Southport on 29 July 2024, Lennon published a number of posts on social media commenting on the incident while he was on holiday abroad.

A journalist and photographer working for the Mail Online subsequently travelled to the location where Lennon was staying and photographed him alongside other individuals who were on holiday with him.

Following this, an article was published on Mail Online and in the Daily Mail containing images taken during their visit. Lennon responded by sending private investigators to find the journalists' home addresses to take photographs outside their homes.

He subsequently published those images on his X account, including cropped photographs showing members of one journalist's family, although their faces were not visible.

One of the journalists received a telephone call from a person identifying himself as "Tommy Robinson", who demonstrated knowledge of the journalist's personal details, including his telephone number and home address.

The investigation began after the journalists reported concerns for their safety to police following a series of posts on X that contained their personal information. The victims also reported receiving phone calls and voicemails directly from Lennon.

Detectives launched an investigation and interviewed Lennon under caution. Following the gathering of evidence, a case file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised two charges of harassment causing fear of violence.

Stephen Lennon is due to be sentenced on Wednesday 16 December.