Man, 71, who subjected BBC star to a 'sinister' and 'terrifying' stalking ordeal ordered to stay away from her for life

Robert Green was arrested in 2024 after he began targeting 39-year-old BBC Scotland host Anne McAlpine at her home.

The newsreader and journalist has spoken out about the impact of Green’s "intrusive and intimidating" behaviour on her, and said it left her feeling terrified.

Sheriff Owen Mullan today (Monday February 9) sentenced Green to two years' supervision and imposed a lifetime non-harassment order which prevents him from contacting Anne.

Anne said her ordeal began in 2021 when love letters written by Green were delivered to her at BBC Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow. "They were handwritten, all signed off by the same name in capital letters," she told BBC Scotland's Scotcast.

"The contents of the letters were a mixture of declarations of love, poetry and I would receive gifts - CDs, jewellery, all from the same person. Sometimes I would receive up to three or four in one week, every week for about eight to 12 months, roughly. They were all dated, they were all signed, so it's easy enough to have a reference point."

She said they made her uncomfortable, but she didn't report it. "A lot of the time, I didn't even open a lot of these letters. They would end up in the bin, depending on where I was, where I received them or opened them. Eventually that ended up being quite crucial evidence, but I didn't know that at the time."

The letters Green sent suggested he thought he and Anne were in some kind of relationship. He believed she was trying to communicate with him on TV through her clothes, the colours she wore, the way she moved and the way she held her pen.

The content of his numerous letters suggested he was watching all of her TV appearances and was fixating on absolutely everything about her; what she was wearing, what she was saying, what she was doing.

Anne was in the public eye a lot as she was a regular presenter on BBC Scotland News programmes, she had a prominent role on countryside programme Landward, and also did voiceover work on Scotland's Home of The Year.

Green then began writing about trying to make direct contact with her. Anne explained: “He mentioned phoning reception, trying to get a number for me, trying to get put through, which was obviously unsuccessful.”

Then in October 2021, Anne got engaged to cameraman Ken McAlpine. After Anne proudly wore her engagement ring on air. Then Green’s letters changed. He first said he was upset by her engagement and then that would stop writing.

The letters did stop - but suddenly in 2024, Green turned up at Anne's home as a colleague dropped her off.

Recalling the incident, she said: "It was dark and as I was getting ready to get out of the car, a man holding a carrier bag, sort of holding eye contact with me, started walking towards the car and something just felt off.

"He didn't look like he was friendly, didn't look like he was looking for directions or going to speak. So I closed the door, asked my friend to lock the doors.

"He came right up to the passenger side window and just looked in, which felt really uncomfortable and strange and I said to him [her friend] 'I think you should drive off'."

They drove round the block and Anne phoned her fiancé to come down to the front door to meet her. By the time he arrived, Green was gone.

Green, who denied the charges, was found guilty of engaging in a course of conduct which left Anne in fear and alarm between February 2021 and November 2024.

Sheriff Mullan told Green his behaviour had been "sinister, unwelcomed and upsetting for your victim" and that the sentence was a direct alternative to prison.