Witnesses for actor Noel Clarke finish giving evidence at High Court

Witnesses on behalf of actor Noel Clarke have finished giving evidence at the High Court, with those for Guardian News and Media (GNM) due to begin on Tuesday.

Clarke, 49, is suing GNM over seven articles and a podcast, including an article in April 2021 that said 20 women who knew him professionally had come forward with allegations of misconduct.

He denies the allegations while GNM is defending its reporting as being both true and in the public interest.

Clarke himself was cross-examined for three days. He claimed that a number of people have invented the allegations and are conspiring against him because of personal or financial grudges.

He was followed by colleagues who had previously worked with him, including US manager Jared Schwartz, actor Joshua Myers and producer Louise Dylan, all of whom said they had not seen sexual misconduct from Clarke.

Clarke’s wife Iris also gave evidence from the witness box, saying that she believes the allegations against her husband to be lies.

Philip Williams, for Clarke, previously told the court in written submissions that the actor “has clearly established the falsity of all of the allegations”.

The barrister continued that his client was “barely able to reply to the allegations” published by the Guardian and was “perceived as a criminal by all those who previously trusted and worked with him”.

Gavin Millar KC, for GNM, said in his written submissions that the paper “did not simply accept what was said to it” and that “much time and resource was devoted to getting to the truth”.

He also said that there is “ample evidence” that all of the articles were true or substantially true.

The hearing before Mrs Justice Steyn is due to conclude in April, with a decision expected in writing at a later date.