Chris Packham has won his libel claim against a website over allegations he lied in order to persuade people to donate money to a wildlife sanctuary.
The prominent naturalist successfully sued over nine articles, published on the Country Squire Magazine website, relating to his involvement with the Wildheart Trust, which runs a wildlife sanctuary on the Isle of Wight.
His claim centred on allegations he defrauded and “manipulated” people in an attempt to raise funds for the charity by claiming tigers had been rescued from a circus, despite knowing they had been donated by the circus and well looked after.
Packham was also accused by the site of dishonestly raising money for the Wildheart Trust at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic while knowing it was due to receive a £500,000 insurance payout.
The court heard that articles on the website described Packham as a fraud, a “notorious liar” and as having an “obvious nastiness”, and accused him of playing the “Asperger’s victim card”.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Saini, ruled the articles complained of were defamatory, causing serious harm to Packham’s reputation. Packham was awarded £90,000 in damages after succeeding in his claim against Dominic Wightman, the editor of Country Squire Magazine, and the writer Nigel Bean.
His claim against another contributor, Paul Read, who described himself as a “mere proofreader”, was dismissed.