Georgia Harrison receives over £200k in damages following revenge porn case against Stephen Bear

Georgia Harrison’s lawyers have revealed the reality TV star has won record damages after her ex-partner shared a private sexual video without her consent. Stephen Bear, from Essex, was jailed for 21 months earlier this year after being found guilty of sharing the film online.

Harrison’s solicitors confirmed she was awarded £207,900 in compensation damages at the High Court on Wednesday. The 28-year-old said she would donate part of the sum to charities.

Hanna Bash, one of Harrison’s solicitors, said: “This has been a difficult, complicated and emotional case.

“I hope her strength in pursuing this highlights to other victims that there is help and support available for them and that the courts take these matters very seriously.”

Payne Hicks Beach, another solicitor of Harrison, said the damages - awarded by the King’s Bench civil division at the High Court in London - was a record sum in an “image abuse case”.

Bear, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, and Harrison were captured on CCTV cameras having sex in Bear’s garden on August 2, 2020. Harrison, who appeared on Love Island and The Only Way is Essex, waived her right to anonymity ahead of the trial.

During the trial, prosecutor Jacqueline Carey KC told Chelmsford Crown Court that Harrison and Bear had consensual sex at his home in Loughton, Essex, but Harrison was unaware it was being recorded.

When Harrison saw the footage, she told Bear “never to send” it to anyone and “made it clear how upset she would be if he did,” according to the prosecutor. The complainant said she saw Bear send the footage to someone on WhatsApp later that day, and she learned that it was circulating online later that year.

Carey said Bear uploaded the footage “either himself or had it uploaded to OnlyFans and profited financially”. Bear, who denied all charges, claimed that he deleted the footage that day and had shared it with no one other than Harrison.

But he was found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court of voyeurism and of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress. After Bear was found guilty, Harrison said: “I hope me taking a stand gives other men and women who have fallen victim to revenge porn the courage to seek justice and most importantly show them that they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”