Patrick Christys said the ‘dangerous’ situation was ‘very scary’.
Patrick Christys had to flee his home (Image: GB News)
A GB News star has spoken out about the “scary time” he and his pregnant wife endured after doing a report on people smugglers. Patrick Christys, who presents the Tonight current affairs show, says the police advised him to leave his home in the dead of night, with his wife and fellow GB News presenter Emily Carver, as they believed their lives were at risk because of his work exposing people smugglers in Calais.
The ordeal began last July when Christys started identifying human traffickers and alerting the authorities. He told the Daily Mail: “I realised how easy it was to track them down. They advertise on TikTok. Then to talk about locations, times, prices, you move on to WhatsApp. Yet nothing seemed to be done. So, we decided to front them up ourselves.” Christys and a camera crew headed to Calais where they confronted the smugglers face-to-face live on air and that is when the death threats started.
The presenters work together on GB News (Image: X)
The presenter shared how his wife called when he was working and told him the police were at their home as “someone wants to kill you”.
He shared: “The police read out an official ‘threat to life’ notice. It said, ‘As a result of your recent journalistic coverage of organised crime groups in northern France we are aware that members of those organised immigration crime groups are seeking to actively engage with you to cause you significant harm.'”
Christys said that the police told them to “get out of your flat right now.” He added that they were warned not to drive their car incase it was “booby trapped”.
The Metropolitan Police eventually fitted a panic alarm and, a few days later, the couple were allowed back home.
Christys continued to work “as though nothing had happened”. He said: “I was bundled in and out of the office in secret. The police told us to disguise ourselves if we went out.”
However fear spiked once more when the police asked for the panic alarm back. “When the contractors turned up to take it away, I pleaded with them to leave it. But they said the alarm had already been disconnected for ten days because the police didn’t have enough. They’d switched the alarm off without telling us,” he shared.
Speaking about how worried he is, Christys added: “These are frightening times, especially in the light of what we’ve seen happen to Ann Widdecombe and the firebombing at Nigel Farage‘s home.
“We’re asked to put a huge amount of faith in the Metropolitan Police and the intelligence services; I’m not sure that’s entirely safe.”
He went on to defiantly state: “I want to let these monsters know that if their intention was to scare me into silence, they failed.”
Christys said that he will be heading back to northern France in the next few weeks. He added that he thinks it is “important journalism” and “won’t be intimidated”.
He also posted a status on X explaining why he has chosen to share his story which read: “Thanks for all the well wishes and thanks @GBNEWS for doing everything to help keep our family safe. It was very scary at the time.
“Wasn’t sure whether or not to share publicly but I think the public should know how dangerous these illegal migrant gangs are.”