A jury is expected to deliver a verdict today on whether or not an animal activist committed fraud while fundraising to save his sanctuary.

Chris Tucker, 59, is accused of false representation after using tens of thousands of pounds in GoFundMe funds to buy half of his house from his ex-partner.

Tucker, of Chantry Avenue in Bexhill, is alleged to have lied to fundraisers by telling them he would sign his house over to Bexhill and Hastings Animal Sanctuary and Rescue.

Closing his argument Ethu Crodie, defending Tucker, said: “Things change. What Mr Tucker has planned since [his charge] shows no dishonesty.

“You may think that it is unlikely that he planned this and over many years followed that plan through.”

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Prosecutor Gareth Burrows said: “It [Tucker’s defence] is nonsense. The uncomfortable truth in this case is one person is able to decide whether they keep that interest and they sit in the dock.”

Tucker, who sat in the dock and appeared emotional throughout the closing speeches, is accused of fraud between 2014 and 2019.

The animal activist, who runs the animal sanctuary from his garden, is alleged to have told fundraisers on social media that he would sign over his house to a trust in the name of the rescue.

However, the house remained in his name after the money was used to pay his ex-wife for her half of the house after they separated.

The jury heard a radio interview from November 2018 in which Tucker said “my half of the property is going to be signed over”, adding in court that he “still stands by that”.

However, he added that he was waiting to pay off a loan which was taken on the condition that the sanctuary remained in his ownership until it was paid off.

Tucker says that he intended to give half of the property to his daughter.

He denies one charge of fraud.

The trial at Lewes Crown Court sitting in Brighton continues and is expected to conclude today.