Stephen Lennon has been convicted at Southwark Crown Court of two counts of harassment causing fear of violence following a jury trial. The verdicts were returned on Wednesday 28 October. He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 16 December.
The case concerned conduct directed at two journalists after reporting in August 2024. The jury considered messages, telephone calls and social-media posts, alongside material connected with the journalists’ personal information and homes. The prosecution case was that this conduct caused the two men to fear violence. Lennon denied the charges during the trial, but the jury found him guilty on both counts.
A conviction, with sentencing still to come
The verdict is a finding of guilt after trial. It is not the final stage of the proceedings. The court has yet to decide sentence, and no penalty was imposed when the jury returned its verdicts. The sentencing hearing on 16 December will determine the outcome on punishment.
The offences are two counts of harassment causing fear of violence. They arose from a specific sequence of contact and online activity, rather than a general finding about every comment made by Lennon or by others online. The criminal case concerns the conduct tested in court and the charges on which the jury reached its decisions.
Lennon, 43, had been staying in Cyprus in the period after the events in Southport in July 2024. Coverage showing him on holiday led to a dispute over images and information published about him and his family. The trial heard that he later took steps to obtain the home addresses of two journalists. Images outside their homes, and cropped images relating to one journalist’s family, were subsequently shared online.
The court also heard evidence of direct contact. That included a telephone call in which one journalist’s personal details and address were known to the caller. The evidence considered by the jury included posts containing personal information, calls and messages. The two journalists reported fears for their own safety and that of their families.
Why the court date matters in London
Southwark Crown Court is the London venue where the trial was heard and where the sentencing hearing has been listed. The next hearing is therefore the key outstanding procedural date. Until it takes place, it would be premature to describe the case as having resulted in a custodial term, a financial penalty or any other particular sentence.
The case also distinguishes between a complaint about media coverage and a criminal response to it. The evidence at trial concerned the way the two journalists were targeted after the dispute, including conduct that the jury concluded amounted to harassment causing fear of violence. The verdicts do not remove the need for care in reporting the case: the conviction is established, while the sentence remains undecided.
For London, the immediate development is the conclusion of the trial at Southwark Crown Court. The next material update will be the sentencing decision on 16 December, when the court is expected to determine the penalty for the two convictions.
