Award-winning actor Michael Ward is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court facing charges of rape and sexual assault. The 28-year-old, known for his roles in the film "Blue Story" and the Netflix series "Top Boy," denies two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. His defense asserts that all sexual activity between him and the accuser was consensual.
The prosecution told the court that the alleged incidents occurred in a car in London in 2023, shortly after Ward met the woman at a bar. In a police interview played to the jury, the woman described feeling "numb" and "scared" during the alleged assaults, stating she "remembered wanting it all to be over."
Jurors heard that the woman met Ward for the first time at a party in a northeast London nightclub. She recalled feeling flattered when the actor, whom she recognized from television and film, asked for her Snapchat contact. She was subsequently invited to accompany Ward to the back of a friend's Mercedes, where, according to the trial, consensual kissing and intimate touching took place.
Ward then reportedly invited the woman and her friends to an afterparty at a different location. It was in a car near this second venue that the alleged rape and sexual assault are claimed to have occurred. The accuser stated in her police interview, "I tried to leave the vehicle and he told me to close the door."
Ward, who was born in Jamaica and raised in London, won the BAFTA Rising Star award in 2020. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Jamie, a gang leader and drug dealer, in the crime series "Top Boy" and for his role as Marco in "Blue Story." The trial is ongoing.