Bafta-winning actor Micheal Ward has been cleared of raping a woman in the back of a Mercedes after meeting her outside a new year party. The 28-year-old star, known for his breakout role in the critically acclaimed drama series Top Boy, denied assaulting the woman in his friend's car in January 2023, insisting their encounter was consensual and that they were “having a great time.”
Unanimous verdict after five-hour deliberation
On Friday, the jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court unanimously found Ward not guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, and one count of sexual assault against the woman on January 2, 2023. The jury took five hours and 25 minutes to reach the verdict. Ward stood quietly in the dock, holding his hand to his mouth as the jury foreman slowly announced each not-guilty verdict. He then burst into tears and leaned heavily on his defence lawyer as she helped him out of the room. Some in the public gallery, packed with family and friends throughout the trial, held back tears as the verdicts were read.
Background and career of the actor
The court heard that Ward came from humble beginnings in London's east end and was raised in a female-led family after his father died in a car crash when he was two years old. He rose to fame with a breakout role in Top Boy, won the Bafta Rising Star award in 2020, and went on to secure big-screen success alongside established stars. Ward, from Silvertown, east London, had enjoyed Christmas with his close-knit family before attending the “all-white” party for around 250 people in Gants Hill, east London, during a break from his busy schedule, which included work in Italy and promotion for his soon-to-be-released film.
The encounter and testimony
Ward met his accuser outside the party. He told the court they flirted, had foreplay, enjoyed “passionate” kisses, and that an intimate act between them would not have happened if she did not want it. He described her as confident and “very cute,” adding: “We had a mutual attraction with each other. We engaged in consensual sex, had a great time and she was actively participating in what we were doing all the time.” Ward recalled a “quite flirty” conversation with the woman, who accepted she was flattered when he asked for her Snapchat details. He told the jury: “I could tell there was interest there – from her eye contact and the way she was speaking.”
As the party ended, Ward unexpectedly received a message from her saying she was waiting by a car. The court heard that the pair kissed and hugged in a Mercedes outside the party and later had an intimate encounter in another Mercedes outside an after-party event. Ward asked her to go into the back seat, which she did. He said the car door was unlocked, she gave no indication she wanted to leave, and they kissed again, becoming involved in a “developing situation.” Ward stated: “I really feel that she wanted to be there. She never mentioned anything about wanting to leave.” He recalled that the woman said her friends were waiting, adding: “Everything was progressing in a natural, hot way and we were just enjoying it.” He said he did not force her, and they kissed, hugged, and had a conversation before she left.
Prosecution and defence arguments
Before the party, the woman Googled Ward and sent pictures of him to her friend, the court heard. Prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC noted that the woman admitted she finds Ward “attractive” and “does not deny that what happened in the first car was consensual.” The prosecution's case was that Ward was “bent that night on having sex with her come what may” and suggested she had no motivation to say she was raped if it had not happened. Her friends broke down in tears in court, recalling that “her demeanour was off” when she got back into the car for the return journey, and she ordered an STI kit during the drive back.
The woman said she exchanged some friendly messages with Ward after the incident because she “had not fully come to terms with what had actually happened to her.” Ward said he wanted to see her again but their contact fizzled out as his busy schedule took over. He expressed being “shocked” when he was arrested at the airport returning from Italy, adding: “I knew that I had not done anything wrong and wanted to get to the bottom of it.”
Defence counsel Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC told the jury: “The woman has bluntly not been consistent and has told a series of lies that go to the heart of this matter. She has told them to the police and she has told them to you.” The court heard that it took 18 months from her original police interview before the woman reported deleting parts of messages with Ward, and it came to light only when investigators asked her friends for screenshots of their chats. The woman said she had blood on her clothing, but tests found nothing, and she “flipped one way and then the other” about whether there had been flirting, the KC said. Ms Bennett-Jenkins concluded: “There are three, at the very least, significant areas where the woman can be demonstrated not to have told the truth. Is that a witness upon who you can rely? I suggest not.”
