I fear for my life after Jimmy Savile slurs, says Packham

CHRIS PACKHAM has told a court he fears for his life after his detractors compared him with Jimmy Savile.

The BBC presenter is suing three men at the High Court over nine online articles that included claims he duped people into donating to a charity to rescue tigers while knowing the animals were well looked after.

Mr Packham was also accused of dishonestly raising money for the charity at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic while knowing it was due to receive a £500,000 benefit from its insurance.

Yesterday, the 61-year-old Springwatch presenter gave evidence on the second day of the trial, saying the men “repeatedly picked on and mocked my Asperger’s syndrome” as well as comparing him to Savile.

The allegations made in the articles, which he strongly denies, relate to the Wildheart Trust, which runs a sanctuary on the Isle of Wight.

Dominic Wightman, editor of the online magazine Country Squire, is fighting the claim, along with writer Nigel Bean and a third man, Paul Read.

Lawyers for Mr Wightman and Mr Bean said the articles in the claim could be defended as true while Mr Read said he was not responsible for the publication as he was a “mere proofreader”.

Mr Packham said he was a “victim of vile and relentless intimidation” over his views on blood sports. He said: “Random dead animals and human faeces are regularly posted to me.”

He recalled that in October 2021, “masked attackers” set fire to a car and burned down the gate to his home, with local police said to believe the arson was carried out by paid professionals.

Mr Packham added: “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?

“I genuinely no longer expect to live a long life free from violence and intimidation. It may only take the one wrong person to read Country Squire magazine for things to go horribly wrong.”

Of the insurance allegations, he said: “We weren’t hopeful that we would be insured against Covid-19 closures. The insurance ... ultimately saved the sanctuary … but to be very clear, if we had not launched the fundraising appeal as rapidly, payments may have arrived too late to make a difference.”

The trial, before Mr Justice Saini, is due to conclude on May 12, with a decision at a later date.