CHRIS: I FEAR PSYCHO KILLER WILL GET ME..
Host gets dead animals in mail
CHRIS Packham fears he will be killed by a “psychopath” over his views on animal rights, the High Court heard.
The BBC host said he does not expect to live “a long life free from violence and intimidation” in a libel trial against three men.
The TV host is suing over nine articles that claimed he defrauded people into donating to the Wildheart Trust while knowing its tigers were well looked after and it was due a £500,000 insurance payout.
On the second day of the trial in London, the BBC Springwatch presenter said he was a “victim of a campaign of vile and relentless intimidation”.
In his 50-page witness statement, Mr Packham said his “deeply held views” have attracted criticism from people who hunt animals.
The environmentalist said his mail has been stolen, and “random dead animals and human faeces are regularly posted to me”.
He said in October 2021, “masked attackers” set fire to a car and burned down the gate to his home, with police said to believe the arson was carried out by paid professionals.
The 61-year-old said: “I do go to walk my dogs in the woods and wonder, ‘Is today the day that a psychopath fuelled by all this hate turns up and kills me?’
“Because it may only take the one wrong person to read Country Squire Magazine for things to go horribly wrong.”
Mr Packham also said the men had “repeatedly picked on and mocked my Asperger’s syndrome” and compared him to Jimmy Savile.
Dominic Wightman, editor of Country Squire Magazine, Nigel Bean and Paul Read deny the accusations. The trial continues.