Channel 5 ordered to pay £10,000 to couple after broadcasting their eviction

Shakar Ali, 52, and his wife Shaida Aslam, 49, from Barking in East London, were filmed on the TV show Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away after they fell into rent arrears.

Mr Ali did not consent to the footage, though it was repeated on TV 35 times.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Arnold awarded the couple damages for the distress of filming and the misuse of private information after ruling their privacy outweighed the channel’s freedom of expression.

The series follows the work of High Court enforcement officers.

In 2015 the couple were filmed by a TV crew as well as the officers who wore body cams.

Mr Ali had fallen behind on his rent as he recovered from a heart condition and severely injured foot.

The property owner, who sought repossession, used the enforcement officers, who were joined by a TV crew which filmed the couple’s reaction and shot footage in their children’s bedrooms.

Despite Mr Ali asking why the eviction was being filmed, he was given no explanation.

Solicitor Christopher Hutchings, who represented the family, said the High Court’s ruling was “one of the first legal actions” emanating from “an observational documentary”.

He added: ” judgement will inevitably have wider ramifications for those broadcasting film of a similar kind.”