Obsessed fan, 55, bombarded BBC weather presenter with sex messages
Obsessed fan, 55, is jailed after forcing BBC weather presenter off-air and leaving her feeling ‘physically sick’ by bombarding her with sexual messages about her ‘nice legs’ and ‘sexy little dress’
- Timothy O’Brien, 55, became obsessed with weather presenter Alexis Green
- The 55-year-old, of Bournemouth, Dorset, bombarded her with 115 messages
- He has been jailed for 17 weeks after pleading guilty to a charge of harassment
A convicted stalker has been jailed for 17 weeks after bombarding a BBC weather presenter with over 100 sexually explicit messages in a month-long harassment campaign.
Avionic engineer Timothy O’Brien, 55, became obsessed with BBC South’s Alexis Green, sending messages to tell her she had ‘nice legs’ and he liked it when she wore ‘a sexy little dress’, a court heard.
The former company director also inundated her with videos and pictures of himself and detailed his sexual fantasies.
Ms Green told the hearing that his unwanted advances left her feeling ‘physically sick’ doing her job, knowing the father-of-four could be watching her on TV.
The presenter became emotional as she described how the ‘repeated’ harassment had made her feel less confident in ‘every aspect’ of her life and resulted in her taking time off work.
Avionics engineer Timothy O’Brien, 55, became obsessed with BBC South’s Alexis Green (pictured), bombarding her with over 100 messages
O’Brien sent Ms Green a total of 115 messages, 33 videos and 13 photos.
Appearing for sentencing at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, O’Brien was also handed a restraining order and told not to attend her place of work at BBC South in the city.
Prosecuting, Bethany Adams told the court: ‘The victim doesn’t know the defendant.
‘Between December 18 last year and January 24 this year, the defendant repeatedly contacted Ms Green via Facebook messenger.
‘The content of those messages and videos are rather unpleasant.’
Ms Adams described the content of some of the videos and messages to ‘get a flavour’.
In the videos, the court heard O’Brien telling Ms Green he wanted to ‘feel her’ and boasting about the size of his penis.
Ms Adams continued: ‘He asks Ms Green if she likes his body and said “if you like I will send a picture of my c***. If you don’t block me I will take that as a yes”, accompanied by emojis with love eyes and tongue out.’
O’Brien also sent messages to Ms Green, saying he wanted to have sex with her, and she had ‘nice legs, so should be on the news more often’.
Ms Adams told the court O’Brien messaged saying his ‘favourite’ was when she wore a ‘sexy little dress’.
Weather presenter Alexis Green said the harassment ordeal had led her to consider quitting the work she loved. ‘I’m simply trying to do a job. I was not interested in the sick advances he showed’
‘From these, you can understand the kind of messages she has received,’ she continued.
Reading her victim statement to the court from behind a screen, Ms Green said the ordeal had led her to consider quitting the work she loved.
‘I’m simply trying to do a job. I was not interested in the sick advances he showed,’ she said.
‘I have even questioned whether my job is worth feeling like this. I shouldn’t have to feel that way about a job I really love.
Ms Green, who lives in Hampshire’s New Forest with her partner and child, added: ‘I feel I’m constantly looking over my shoulder.
‘I have had to have time off work. I have always been a keen runner but I find myself thinking Mr O’Brien is lurking behind me. I’m in a constant state of alert.’
She told the court a recent example of being made ‘extremely anxious’ when an unknown man got into a lift with her, as she was scared it was him.
‘I feel physically sick presenting the weather, knowing the defendant could be watching,’ she continued.
‘It has made me feel less confident in every aspect of my life. I can’t remember feeling such a dark time in my life.’
She described feeling ‘extremely anxious’ not knowing whether O’Brien, of Bournemouth, Dorset, was still in custody after his arrest in January this year and the ordeal had affected her private life.
‘And all this because of one man’s actions and obsessions,’ she added.
Ms Green, who was born in Winchester, Hants, attended Cardiff University to study Sports Science, before moving to London and eventually becoming a runner on on a CBBC series called ‘Serious Arctic’.
From there she became a studio floor manager for Channel Five and Four News, was a Traffic and Travel presenter GMTV/ITV London before landing her gig presenting weather forecasts on South Today and BBC Local Radio across the south.
O’Brien was the director and avionic engineer at Chaouchi Ltd from 2011 until it dissolved in November 2019.
He has also worked as an avionic engineer for Miniliner Airways at Bergamo Airport, Italy, in 2012.
After initially being arrested on suspicion of stalking in January this year, he admitted an alternate charge of harassment without violence.
In mitigation, Mark Hensleigh told the court O’Brien had previously had a ‘successful career’ before ‘something went wrong’, leading to him separating from his wife.
Mr Hensleigh said: ‘No one really knows what has gone wrong but he gets fixated with people.
‘My client thought because she was in the public domain, the messages would be blocked but they weren’t for whatever reason.
‘He accepts what he did was wrong and he apologises to the victim through me.
‘The messages were over a short period of time but my client accepts they were entirely inappropriate.’
He told the court the videos had happened when O’Brien, who has previous convictions of stalking and breaches of the resultant restraining order, was ‘in drink’.
Addressing O’Brien, Fiona Chalkley sentenced him to 17 weeks imprisonment and gave him a restraining order of ‘indefinite’ length for any contact with Ms Green.
He was also ordered not to attend her place of work at BBC South and told to pay court costs totalling £154.
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