In this instalment of the witness statement published at the start of his court case against three individuals whom he claims has defamed him, Chris Packham recalls an arson attack on the property where he lives. (See also earlier blogs.)
ON 8 October 2021, arsonists set fire to a car and burned down the gate to my home in full view of CCTV cameras.
The footage showed masked attackers drive a vehicle up to the gate before setting it alight.
I reported the incident to Hampshire Police who believe the crime was carried out by paid professionals.
The arsonists are thought to have used two vehicles - a Land Rover Discovery that had been stolen from and a Mitsubishi Shogun bought in Somerset some time earlier.
Other police footage shows the two vehicles making their way to my house.
At around 12.30am, the Land Rover was set ablaze outside the property, destroying the gates and a tree.
The images showed the perpetrator walking calmly away from my gates in chilling indifference to the crime committed.
I have always had double fire and burglar alarm systems for security and insurance purposes. These systems are not about protecting my property - they are primarily about protecting me and my family.
Following the arson attack, Hampshire Police advised me to increase the security around the home.
I paid for an independent security expert who advocated further upgrades including, additional CCTV, automatic number plate recognition cameras with beam sensors/triggers and the installation of panic buttons with a direct line to the police. #
All this cost upwards of £15,000 - in addition to the cost and inconvenience of replacing the gates.
There have been some extremely distasteful posts in light of this attack.
On 20 January, 2022, a local individual posted that he was throwing away his birthday card as had been created by Springwatch.
Another local who had previously blocked my driveway and thrown short sections of barbed wire on to it, suggested that a better card would be a picture of my burning gates.
The post has since been deleted from Facebook page.
* To be continued.
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