Chris Packham sues men for libel over fraud claims

Chris Packham said a "line in the sand" had been crossed by the online articles

Wildlife expert Chris Packham is suing three men for libel over claims he defrauded the public.

The broadcaster took action over online articles claiming he tricked people into donating to the Wildheart Trust to rescue tigers while knowing they were well treated.

Weblog editor Dominic Wightman, writer Nigel Bean and a third defendant, Paul Read, are defending the claim.

A judge has ruled the allegations are defamatory.

Mr Justice Johnson said he "broadly" agreed with Mr Packham's lawyers over the meaning of each publication which also included videos and tweets.

He added: "The essential meaning of many of them is a variation on the theme that the claimant dishonestly raised funds from the public by stating that tigers had been rescued from a circus where they had been mistreated, whereas in fact, as the claimant knew, the tigers had been well-treated and had been donated by the circus."

Mr Johnson's ruling represents the first stage of the case and a trial is expected to follow.

'Line in the sand'

Mr Johnson said each of those meanings was defamatory of the claimant in common law, and amounted to statements of fact rather than expressions of opinion.

Speaking on behalf of the three defendants, Mr Wightman told the court they were "happy to robustly defend the truth of our articles and tweets".

He said the articles were a "long-term journalistic investigation" and he was "standing on a mountain of facts" about the allegations.

Mr Packham said he had "no choice" but to bring the claim, as a "line in the sand" had been crossed.

"The three have proactively sought to damage my reputation," he said.