Stephen Bear pays back €26,000 illegally earned from sharing sex tape

By Sam Russell, PA

Former Celebrity Big Brother UK winner Stephen Bear has repaid the £22,305 (€26,203) that he illegally earned by sharing a private sex tape of him and reality TV star Georgia Harrison online, after a judge made a confiscation order for that amount.

The 34-year-old faced nine months in prison if he did not pay the sum within three months of the order made by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court in England earlier this year.

The judge made the order after Bear walked out of prison in January, having served 10-and-a-half months of his 21-month sentence for sharing the film.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has confirmed that Bear has since paid the £22,305 confiscation order in full.

Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Debbie Price said: “It is right Stephen Bear has paid the full amount of his confiscation order – it’s important criminals understand that, aside from the sentence they receive, we will also go after their bank accounts and assets to prevent them from enjoying the money they made from their crimes.”

Separately, the judge ordered that Bear pay Ms Harrison £5,000 in compensation, which he said “can be enforced through the magistrates’ court” if it is “not satisfied”.

Bear was jailed in March last year after being found guilty of voyeurism and of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

Ms Harrison said at a hearing in March this year that Bear had “sold his house from prison – he sold his house to a company called We Buy Any House for well under market value”.