Jeremy Clarkson should be sent to PRISON for Meghan Markle rant, says Chris Packham - 'Jail him!'

Jeremy Clarkson should be sent to prison for his comments on Meghan Markle, according to Chris Packham.

The Springwatch presenter’s comments were in response to a column written by Jeremy Clarkson in which he said he hated the Duchess “on a cellular level”.

TRENDING

• 

  Prince Harry humiliated as older woman who took his virginity says he 'only lasted five minutes'

• 

  Harry and Meghan will ‘take the shine off’ King Charles’ Coronation and overshadow event, claims expert

• 

  Kate Middleton shares adorable baby photo with royal fans and discusses importance of family

Writing in The Sun, the former Top Gear presenter said: “I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.

"At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her.”

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) has received more than 6,000 complaints over the article.

Clarkson was hounded online for the comments and took to Twitter to apologise for the “hurt” he caused.

He wrote: “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.”

Responding, BBC’s Chris Packham wrote: “It’s hate crime , pure and simple. If there were any sort of justice there would be laws that would jail him. And shut down the publisher. Is this the country we want to live in? Is this what we should tolerate? We must ask ourselves - where is this leading? Nowhere good.”

His opinion received a mixed response with some pointing out the dangers in silencing people and removing their free speech.

One user replied: “Steady on. He’s an awful man but not sure jailing people is proportionate.”

Tony Pressland wrote: “I agree it wasn’t in good taste but aren’t you going a little bit too far.”

More than 60 MPs have written to the editor of The Sun to condemn “in the strongest terms” an article by Jeremy Clarkson about the Duchess of Sussex.

The cross-party group said the former Top Gear presenter’s “hateful” article had contributed to an “unacceptable climate of hatred and violence”.