Top Boy actor Micheal Ward is on trial in London after prosecutors alleged he raped and sexually assaulted a woman he met during a New Year’s nightclub party, accusations he denies.
Ward, 28, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault involving one woman. At Snaresbrook Crown Court, prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC told jurors the actor met the woman at Infinity Lounge in Gant’s Hill, east London, on January 1, 2023.
The woman knew Ward from “TV and in films,” the court heard. Ayling said Ward asked for her Snapchat before the group moved to an after-party in Stratford. The woman left soon after, telling police she got a “weird vibe.”
According to the prosecution, Ward then asked her to walk with him to a parked car so they could talk. In police interview footage played for jurors, the woman said Ward became sexual in the vehicle and that she told him, “I don’t wanna do that.” She also said she felt “pressured.”
The court heard the woman later ordered an STI kit and indicated she had been sexually assaulted. Ayling said she continued “friendly” messages because she had not “fully come to terms” with what happened.
Ward was arrested on January 18, 2023. He told police, “I deny the allegation of rape. I want to put on record that we had consensual foreplay and consensual sex.”
