POPULAR television naturalist Chris Packham has had an “enormous amount of puerile, offensive and damaging material” published about him, the High Court has heard at the start of his libel claim against allegations of misleading the public into donating to an Isle of Wight charity.

Mr Packham, 61, is suing three men over nine articles, which claimed he defrauded people into donating to a charity to rescue tigers while knowing the animals were well looked after, described in court as “tiger fraud”.

Dominic Wightman, editor of the online site Country Squire Magazine, is defending the libel claim, along with writer, Nigel Bean, and a third man, Paul Read.

The strongly denied allegations, repeated in several tweets and videos, relate to Mr Packham’s involvement with the Wildheart Trust, which runs a wildlife sanctuary on the Isle of Wight.

READ MORE: Chris Packham trial begins over Isle of Wight 'tiger fraud' claims

At the start of the trial today (Tuesday), the High Court in London heard the environmentalist was accused of “abusing his privileged position as a BBC presenter” to dishonestly appeal for donations for the charity, which he and his partner, Charlotte Corney, are trustees of.

Jonathan Price, for the presenter, said: “It is now a facility that rescues animals in need of a forever home, as they put it, because for whatever reason they are unwanted by their former owners.

“A central allegation in this case that it is fraudulent to attach the word 'rescue' to this process.”

The environmentalist — who is expected to give evidence tomorrow (Wednesday) – was accused of misleading the public into donating, by claiming tigers had been rescued from a circus, while he allegedly knew they had been well-treated and were instead, donated.

Mr Price said in written submissions: “Mr Packham is well-known for his decades of vociferous campaigning for — and strongly held beliefs on — animal welfare and nature conservation issues.

“An argument that he does not genuinely hold those beliefs, but has instead sought to defraud the public for money is, at best, an ambitious one.”

The court was told Mr Packham had been described by the defendants as a fraud, a “notorious liar”, of having an “obvious nastiness”, and of playing the “Asperger’s victim card”.

Mr Price argued that the three men intended to run “a full-frontal attack” on Mr Packham’s character during the legal case and to get him fired.

“As the litigation has progressed, the defendants have published an enormous amount of puerile, offensive and damaging material about the claimant — often under the guise of fundraising for their defence,” the barrister said, in written submissions.

Nicholas O’Brien, for Mr Wightman and Mr Bean, said the articles in the claim were true and could also be defended as being in the public interest.

Also in written submissions, the barrister added: “It is clear the tigers had not been rescued from a circus, were not then in need of rescue and were not rescued by Mr Packham.”

Mr O’Brien said the pair “contend that Mr Packham knew the statements were false, and they were therefore made dishonestly”.

“They were also fraudulent in that they were made with a view to a gain and constituted an abuse of his privileged position as a BBC presenter,” he added.

David Price KC, for retired computer programmer Mr Read, said he was not responsible for the publications attributed to him as he was a “mere proofreader”.

“Mr Read’s proof-read version was then subjected to further amendment by Mr Wightman and/or Mr Bean before publication,” he continued, in written submissions.

Mr Price added Mr Wightman had admitted responsibility.

“The fact Mr Read was given courtesy byline credits… cannot override the hard evidence as to his limited involvement,” he added.

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