Court jails American stalker who believed Youtube star Joe Sugg was sending him secret messages by drinking hot chocolate and flew to London to pursue his obsession

Published 30 October 2026, 17:37

• Robert Beckman, 31, emailed Sugg his flight details, forcing him and Strictly star Dianne Buswell to flee to relatives.
• Presenting a victim impact statement before the court, Sugg described certain messages as 'sexual in nature'.
• Beckman had pushed a folder of documents under Sugg's London door in 2021, then kept writing after being sent home.

An American man who believed British YouTuber Joe Sugg was sending him secret messages by drinking hot chocolate on camera has been jailed for 21 months after a four-year stalking campaign that forced Sugg and his family to flee their home.

Robert Beckman, 31, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, bombarded Sugg — a popular vlogger with millions of followers — with emails, letters and social media comments from 2021 onwards, according to Sussex Police.

Beckman was convinced that Sugg was sending him subliminal signals through his videos — interpreting even something as ordinary as drinking a cup of hot chocolate as a form of communication — and that among these messages was one that explicitly directed him to make the journey from the US to the UK.

In 2021, Beckman made his way to Sugg's London apartment, entered the building, and slid a folder containing documents and letters beneath the door.

He was arrested, issued with a police warning by the Metropolitan Police and sent back to the US — but the letters kept coming, continuing to arrive at Sugg's address.

The campaign escalated as Sugg and his partner, Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell, prepared for the birth of their son.

Beckman sent Sugg his flight details, announced he planned to stay at the Hilton London Gatwick and invited Sugg to meet him there.

Sugg contacted police, and officers arrested Beckman at Gatwick Airport on 25 August after he flew in from Boston.

Sugg and his family fled their rural home and stayed with relatives for a week.

"I was terrified that he was staying in a hotel that was very close to our home," Sugg said in a victim impact statement read to Lewes Crown Court.

Beckman pleaded guilty to stalking causing serious alarm or distress that had a substantial adverse effect on Sugg's usual day-to-day activities, and to refusing to hand over the passcode to his Apple iPhone 13.

He was sentenced on 29 October.

In his statement, Sugg, 35, 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 would continue to contact me."

Sugg described triple-checking every post to avoid Beckman misinterpreting it and stripping personal details from his content to protect his family.

"Some of the content was sexual in nature and I was worried about what would happen if this man ever came to the UK," he said. "I felt totally helpless and spent countless sleepless nights worrying and trying to figure out how this could be resolved."

He also described how brief lulls in the campaign gave him temporary relief.

"I felt I could worry less and get back to my usual self," he said. "But that silence was shattered by more letters."

Alongside the 21-month prison sentence, Beckman received a ten-year restraining order and a ban on entering the UK.

Detective Sergeant James Gwynne of Sussex Police said Beckman's conduct caused Sugg to relocate and change his daily behaviours, "impacting both his work and family life," and that the campaign showed "a complete disregard for the victim."