Micheal Ward: Top Boy actor raped woman in car, court told

Award-winning actor Micheal Ward raped and sexually assaulted a woman shortly after meeting her in a bar in London in 2023, the court heard.

The 28-year-old actor, known for his leading roles in the movie Blue Story and the Netflix series Top Boy, is accused of carrying out the alleged attack in a car.

In a police interview given to jurors on the first day of her trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday, the woman added that she remembered feeling “numb” and “scared” during the alleged attacks and “wanting it all to be over”.

He denies two charges of rape and three counts of sexual assault and has said all sexual activity between the couple was consensual.

The alleged victim said she first met the actor at a party at a nightclub in north-east London. Jurors were told Ward knew she had appeared in films and television and was flattered when he asked for her Snapchat account.

It was stated at the hearing that he was asked to accompany his friend to the back of his Mercedes, they kissed and he allowed the woman to touch him intimately.

The court heard the actor then invited the victim and her friends to an after-party at a different location. It was in a car near the second party that the actor allegedly raped and sexually assaulted the woman.

In his statement to the police, the alleged victim said: “I tried to leave the vehicle and he told me to close the door.”

Ward, who appeared in court on Monday wearing a blue shirt and burgundy tie, told police after his arrest: “I deny the allegation of rape. I want to put on record that we had consensual foreplay and consensual sex.”

The Jamaican-born and London-raised actor won Bafta’s Rising Star award in 2020 after making his name playing gang leader and drug dealer Jamie in crime drama Top Boy and Marco in Blue Story, about rivalry on the streets of south London.

The trial continues.