Strictly Come Dancing star Joe Sugg was forced to leave his home after enduring a ‘terrifying’ four-year stalking campaign by an obsessed fan.
Robert Beckman, a 31-year-old US national, inundated the popular vlogger and YouTuber with emails, social media comments and handwritten letters during a campaign that began in 2022.
The messages continued to arrive from several different locations as Beckman pursued Sugg over four years.
Beckman was jailed for 21 months today after a court heard that his actions left the celebrity frightened for his own safety and that of his family.
The court was told Beckman believed Sugg was communicating subliminal messages to him through seemingly ordinary moments in the YouTuber’s videos, including drinking a cup of hot chocolate.
He also interpreted one alleged hidden message as a direct instruction to travel from the United States to the UK.
Beckman travelled from his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Britain, arriving in London.
After reaching Sugg’s city apartment, he gained entry to the building and pushed a folder containing documents and letters beneath the door.
US–born Robert Beckman (pictured) bombarded Joe Sugg with emails, social media comments and personal letters during a stalking campaign that began in 2022
Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell during their time on Strictly Come Dancing. The couple have been dating since 2018
Sugg discovered the folder when he arrived home. Beckman was arrested, warned by police not to contact Sugg again and issued with a police warning.
However, the harassment resumed after Beckman returned to the US, with a steady stream of letters continuing to reach Sugg’s address.
The court heard that the campaign left Sugg feeling ‘terrified’ and ‘exhausted’.
He said he was even forced to leave his rural home for a week because he feared Beckman might appear at his door.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Sugg said: ‘It has been so mentally exhausting over the years. Mr Beckman is clearly not mentally well.
‘I was frustrated and concerned, and it worried me that despite never responding to him, he continued to make contact.’
Lewes Crown Court heard that the 35-year-old YouTube star became increasingly ‘concerned and frustrated’ by the relentless messages and letters, forcing him to change both his lifestyle and the way he worked.
He also had to remove all personal information from his posts to protect his own safety and that of his family.
Sugg and Buswell together at an event in March 2023. Sugg said he was forced to leave his rural home for a week because he feared the stalker might turn up at his doorstep
He said: ‘This has all affected my work. I would feel extremely anxious and check my work three times to ensure Mr Beckman could not misinterpret it.
‘It caused increased stress and anxiety. Some of the content was sexual in nature and I was worried about what would happen if this man ever came to the UK.’
‘I felt totally helpless and spent countless sleepless nights worrying and trying to figure out how this could be resolved.’
He said the letters would sometimes stop for a few months only to start up causing further ‘anxiety and stress.’
‘I felt I could worry less and get back to my usual self,’ he said. ‘But that silence was shattered by more letters.’
Although he was never personally threatened, Sugg became fearful for his own safety and that of his partner, Strictly dancer, Dianne Buswell.
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As the couple prepared to welcome the birth of their son, the frequency of letters escalated once again and Beckman told Sugg he planned to travel to the UK again.
In a final letter he told Sugg he planned to stay at Hilton London Gatwick and said the YouTuber could meet him at the hotel.
Beckman sent details of his flight showing his plans to arrive at Gatwick on August 25 and check into the hotel.
Beckman outside Lewes Crown Court on Thursday. The court heard Beckman believed Sugg was sending subliminal messages directly to him via his YouTube posts through innocuous actions such as drinking a cup of hot chocolate
Lewes Crown Court heard Sugg and his family were forced to flee and stay with relatives for a week as a result.
In the statement Sugg said: ‘I was terrified that he was staying in a hotel that was very close to our home.’
Sugg contacted police and officers were there to meet Beckman on his arrival and he was arrested.
He was charged with stalking which had caused serious alarm and distress to Sugg to such an extent it had a substantial adverse effect on his usual day–to–day activities
Beckman was also charged with failing to hand over to investigators a key or passcode for his iPhone 13.
The American pleaded guilty to both charges when he appeared before Brighton Crown Court last month.
Sentencing him to 21 months in prison, Judge Stephen Mooney said it was clear Beckman suffered from mental health problems.
He said: ‘You may have had no unpleasant intentions but Mr Sugg had no way of knowing that. He had no way of knowing whether you were a fantasist or a genuine threat and that is why this is so serious.’
Judge Mooney added that the stalking campaign has an ‘insidious and corrosive effect’ which had permeated their everyday life.
He said: ‘You were told to stop but you simply didn’t and repeatedly and unexpectedly sent messages that he [Sugg] found alarming to him and his family.’
The judge said: ‘It appears your mental health was not good and I am deeply saddened that your depression and anxiety led you to make an attempt on your life.
‘The fact of that incident is a clear indication that you suffer from poor mental health and I am sure this contributed to the offending you have admitted.’
Beckman, who wore a grey sweatshirt and dark trousers in court, was supported in court by his mother and father. He was impassive as the sentence was imposed.
Judge Mooney told Beckman he would be deported on his release from prison and also imposed a restraining order preventing him from returning to the UK for ten years.
Sugg rose to fame in the 2010s as part of the British YouTube squad, lives with his partner, professional dancer Dianne Buswell, 37, in a large house near Brighton, East Sussex.
In March this year they welcomed their first child together – a baby son, Bowden.
The couple struck up a romance when they were paired together during the 16th series of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.
Earlier this year Dianne gave birth to a baby boy named Bowden and she was the first professional in Strictly’s history to compete while pregnant, before her partner Stefan Dennis was forced to pull out due to injury in 2025.
Sugg’s sister, Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, and her partner Alfie Deyes are also YouTube sensations though they have vanished almost entirely from social media.
Fans maintain hope, pointing to Alfie’s sporadic Instagram posts as proof that the couple, who soared to fame as ‘vloggers’ in 2012, would return to their regularly scheduled programming.
However, their YouTube channels have remained silent with Deyes’ last post ten months ago.