An animal activist has been convicted of defrauding donors out of thousands of pounds by using their money to buy his house from his ex-wife.

Christopher Tucker, 59, raised tens of thousands of pounds using GoFundMe to buy half of his house from his wife.

Tucker, who runs Bexhill and Hastings Animal Rescue and Sanctuary from his garden in Chantry Avenue, told fundraisers and donors he would transfer the property into the sanctuary’s name, but instead kept it for himself.

During a crown court trial held at Brighton Magistrates' Court this week, the jury heard a radio interview where Tucker said he would “sign over” half of his property.

Jill Lethbridge, a former volunteer who helped the shelter, told the jury: “The rescue hit a crisis point where it needed to raise money to keep going.

“The situation was that his ex-partner needed her share of the property and without that funding the rescue would close and the animals would be homeless.

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“All the way along there had been an issue with the premises and the money. Right from the start he said when the money was raised it would become some sort of recognised body.

“It [putting the house in trust] was the total reason I did it. I would not have fundraised for an individual. I fundraised for the entity as something that existed and could go on.”

Facebook posts on the animal rescue’s page also said that Tucker would sign over the house to the sanctuary.

The fraudulent claims were repeatedly made between 2014 and 2019 to various volunteers and fundraisers.

Gareth Burrows, prosecuting, previously said: “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 claimed that he had been “set up” and that the posts had been edited by others to include the fraudulent statements.

The jury returned a majority guilty verdict, with Tucker convicted in his absence.