Micheal Ward, the British actor who starred as the lead in the Netflix crime drama Top Boy, has been found not guilty on all counts of rape and sexual assault by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London, ending a keenly followed criminal trial.
After a 10-day trial, jurors considered for just over five hours before finding the 28-year-old actor not guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault. The charges arose from allegations by a woman involving an event in January 2023.
Ward throughout the hearings constantly denied the charges, asserting the sexual contact was consensual. In the trial, prosecutors said the actor attacked the complainant in the back of a friend’s Mercedes after the pair had been to a New Year’s Eve gathering in east London. The defence said the contact was consensual and cast doubt on parts of the prosecution case.
As the verdicts were read out, unanimously, Ward started to cry in court. He is said to have broken down in tears when found not guilty of all five counts, before hugging his legal team and supporters.
In a statement released following the verdict, Ward thanked the jury, his legal team, family and friends for their support during the case. He also acknowledged the seriousness of the sexual violence charges, saying he hoped real victims would continue to be heard and supported. At the same time he claimed he was looking forward to repairing his personal life and his profession after what he characterised as a terribly tough period.
Ward’s defence team stated his career had been essentially put on hold for more than three years by the criminal proceedings. His lawyer told reporters the actor was ready to return to the business he loves after the trial’s completion.
Born in Jamaica and brought up in east London, Ward was known for his performances in Blue Story, Small Axe, Empire of Light, The Book of Clarence and Eddington. He won the British Academy Film Awards Rising Star Award in 2020, and has since become one of Britain’s most known young actors.
The verdict leaves one of the UK’s most high-profile entertainment sector court cases of the year with an acquittal. Legal experts said the ruling means Ward has been formally absolved of all criminal charges brought against him in the case.
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