Top Boy actor Micheal Ward on trial for rape and sexual assault in London

Bafta-winning actor Micheal Ward faces charges of rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in a car in London in 2023. Ward denies all charges, saying the encounter was consensual.

Top Boy actor Micheal Ward on trial for rape and sexual assault in London

Micheal Ward rape trial opens at Snaresbrook Crown Court

Actor Micheal Ward, best known for his roles in Netflix series Top Boy and the film Blue Story, allegedly raped and sexually assaulted a woman in a car in London in 2023, a court has heard. The 28-year-old denies two charges of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

bbc.com reports that the trial opened on Monday at Snaresbrook Crown Court, where jurors heard a police interview recorded by the alleged victim. In it, she described feeling "numb" and "scared" during the alleged attacks, and said she remembered "wanting it all to be over."

According to the prosecution, the woman first met Ward at a party at a nightclub in north-east London. She was aware he was a film and television actor, and said she felt flattered when he asked for her Snapchat handle. She was then invited to accompany him to a friend's Mercedes, where the pair kissed and she consented to him touching her intimately.

Ward subsequently invited the woman and her friends to an afterparty at a separate location. It is alleged that in a car near that second venue, the actor raped and sexually assaulted her. The alleged victim told police: "I tried to leave the vehicle and he told me to close the door."

Following his arrest, Ward gave a statement to police in which he rejected the allegations. "I deny the allegation of rape. I want to put on record that we had consensual foreplay and consensual sex," he said. The actor appeared in court on Monday wearing a blue shirt and burgundy tie.

Ward, who was born in Jamaica and raised in London, won Bafta's Rising Star award in 2020. He built his reputation playing gang leader Jamie in Top Boy and Marco in Blue Story, a film set against the backdrop of gang rivalry in south London.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)