Chris Packham has been given a bodyguard for ‘Winterwatch’ after “specific threats” against him were discovered.
Chris Packham has been given a bodyguard for Winterwatch after 'specific threats' against him were discovered
The 62-year-old TV star presents the BBC nature show alongside Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams revealed security for the programme had to be tightened after several threats against him and his family were found in the past month.
Speaking to The Daily Mirror newspaper, he said: “A couple of times recently, before the Watches, we’ve had specific threats for me. So we’ve had a person who’s there and stays at the hotel, and then goes with me to the place.”
Chris then said he had reported the threats to the police, and hopes the issue will soon be resolved.
He explained: “We have had several threats recently that are not death threats but they’re saying, ‘We’re going to harm you.’ And they come, unbelievably, from emails. We’ve got the person’s email address, obviously, I’ve reported them to the police.
“I haven’t heard back from the police but they’ve acknowledged receipt of them. So we’ve had two in the last month, saying, ‘I’m going to harm you and harm your family.’”
Chris also revealed that police had hit a dead-end during their investigation into a previous offence made against him, which saw his gates to his home get firebombed in October 2021.
He said: “They know who these people are – ish. They don’t know precisely which person it is but they said that, you know, sometimes these things play out over a couple of years, because eventually they might fall out with one another, and then they will grass one another up, they are career criminals.
“The police described them as career criminals and on that account, they were probably paid to do the job. And they didn’t come from anywhere around here. They came from somewhere quite far off.”
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