The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Brentwood Council contravened international human rights laws when it released CCTV footage of a suicidal man to a TV company for broadcast.
The Strasbourg court ruled Geoffrey Peck's right to have his privacy respected had been breached.
It said the council's action had been a "disproportionate and unjustified interference with his private life."
The 47-year-old's suicide attempt in 1995 was caught on film by the council's CCTV cameras. The pictures showed him walking down the High Street with a kitchen knife.
The film was later released to a television programme titled Crime Beat to illustrate the success of CCTV cameras in deterring crime.
The court said Mr Peck had not been committing any offence and before releasing the footage the council should have sought his consent, masked his identity effectively and established a written contract with any TV company to ensure his identity would be masked.
The court also ruled that the UK was in breach of Article 13 as there was no effective way of addressing the issue through industry watchdogs or the courts.
Mr Peck was awarded damages of £11,800 plus costs and expenses.
Human rights group Liberty, which backed Mr Peck's case, said the UK should introduce more controls on access to CCTV footage.
Brentwood Council said its actions had been in line with UK law at the time and its actions had been up held at the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Published Thursday, January 30, 2003
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