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Actor Michael Ward Denies Rape and Sexual Assault Charges in East London Nightclub Case
A woman testified that Michael Ward raped her in a car after they met at an east London nightclub in January 2023. Ward, 28, denies two rape charges and three counts of sexual assault, stating all activity was consensual. BBC News reported details from the ongoing trial.
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Michael Ward, the 28-year-old actor known for Top Boy, faces trial on charges of raping a woman in a car after meeting her at a nightclub in east London in January 2023, BBC News reported. He denies two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and has stated that all sexual activity between them was consensual.
The woman, who cannot be named, told jurors she knew Ward had appeared in films and on television and felt flattered when he asked for her Snapchat handle.
She testified that she did not understand the situation she was in and never would have entered the car if she had known what would follow. Defense lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC put it to the woman that what happened in the back of the car was consensual. The woman replied that Ward had raped her.
She said she did not use the word no during the encounter on 2 January 2023 and completely shut down, though she repeatedly told him she needed to leave on multiple occasions. The woman looked upset when she got into a friend's car after the alleged assault, the court heard.
Her friend testified that the woman's demeanor was off and she kept crying, and that she asked whether Ward had raped or assaulted her.
The woman ordered an STI kit on her way home and ticked a box indicating she had been sexually assaulted. Ward was arrested on 18 January 2023 and gave police a prepared statement denying rape and asserting that the pair had engaged in consensual foreplay and sex.
Ward received the Bafta Rising Star Award in 2020 and later earned nominations for roles in the BBC series Small Axe and the 2022 film Empire of Light.
