Police charge BBC naturalist Chris Packham with insulting bird trappers in Gozo

British naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham was back in Malta this week after having already carried out a TV special on Malta's spring hunting season.

Yesterday, Packham was in Gozo where he spent up to two hours at the Victoria Police Station because two trappers claimed he had assaulted them, and filed police charges against him.

Packham said he has been served with a summons to appear in a Gozo court, to face charges of having insulted the trappers.

"Two trappers...claimed that I'd assaulted them," Packham said in the video, with Victoria police station in the background. "I've been charged with using force against any person with the intention to insult or hurt them. I'm completely innocent of these charges." 

Packham's work on poaching in Malta sparked controversy some years back during the filming of the documentary Massacre on Migration. When police hauled him at the ALE offices back in 2014, the #freechrispackham hashtag on Twitter saw supporters raising €50,000 in just a few hours.