Paul Bohill, the star of the Channel 5 reality show Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!, has teamed up with Alan Blacker, the former 'Harry Potter' solicitor who was stuck off and convicted of benefit fraud, to run Blacker's charity.
Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! followed the adventures of Bohill and his team of High Court Enforcement Officers as they sought to recover debts on behalf of private clients. The Channel 5 hit saw Bohill attending the evictions of hoarders, dinner ladies and army veterans, as well as attempting to extract cash from former professional footballer Neil Ruddock for outstanding dog kennel fees.
But Bohill has branched out from showbiz to become a director of 'JAFLAS', the charity Blacker founded in 2000 as the 'Joint Armed Forces Legal Advocacy Service'.
TV show pitch #1
JAFLAS underwent a revamp in 2019 and widened its remit from supporting military types, to the provision of "free legal advice and assistance service and help those [sic] who are the most vulnerable in society".
Its website states that expertise is provided by "Dr Alan Blacker The Lord Harley", who "offers a wide range of consulting services for several industries not least the legal and educational".
Odd choice of video for the JAFLAS home page.
Apparently JAFLAS was founded "to be the most successful, creative and ground-breaking legal advocacy and consulting agency in the United Kingdom for the socially disadvantaged". And according to JAFLAS, it has achieved those lofty objectives. JAFLAS is "proud to say that each year we have a bigger list of returning and new clients", its website states. Strangely, however, Charity Commission records show that it hasn't had any incomings or outgoings since 2016, when it received £300 over the year.
Blacker has a history of making bold claims. His old LinkedIn profile listed dozens of certifications (including 'Licensed Boiler Examiner'), and described him as a "Mozart of the courtroom" and "almost a national treasure".
Blacker suffered a series of professional setbacks after a judge asked why he had appeared in court dressed "like something out of Harry Potter". The subsequent media attention drew the eye of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and he was struck off, then made bankrupt, tried for disability benefit fraud, convicted, and handed a nine month suspended sentence.
Pitch #2
But although Blacker Can't Pay, Bohill has not Taken It Away. Instead the former debt collector has teamed up with the former solicitor to help people in arrears. It's an odd couple set-up crying out for the reality TV treatment, however Bohill did not respond to requests for a steer on when 'Bailiff and Blacker' will premiere.
Comments
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Continues to baffle me. Didn't Harley recently get done for not disclosing change of circumstances for benefits?
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fuck sake rof
dial back the sneering from the hefty 11 you've cranked it to, the poor diet Tecco freak has suffered enough
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The odd thing is that, while some people come through disgrace with contrition and a heightened sense of self, haul themselves back into the world and remake themselves, some dig their hole even deeper. Mystifying.
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Am I right that a former policeman turned debt collector has teamed-up with a struck-off solicitor, convicted of fraud to offer debt advice to consumers for free?
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You've really got to admire this chap's persistence. I salute you, Lord Harley.
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This chap gives us endless fun - long may he continue.....There are not a lot of things making us laugh at present.
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I feel they are well meaning but that is the limit for how much praise I can give them.
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hi
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It's beyond belief that Blacker, who has made a career out of deception and untruths, is now exploiting his notoriety. The less publicity that's given to this crook, the better.