The Guardian newspaper acted as the “judge, jury and executioner” of Noel Clarke’s career and reputation, the actor’s lawyer has told the High Court. The 49-year-old is suing the paper for libel over a series of articles from 2021 and 2022 that included allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior. In written submissions as the trial opened, the Doctor Who and Kidulthood star’s legal team said claims that he was a “serial abuser of women” were false, and that he was the victim of an “unlawful conspiracy”. Guardian News and Media (GNM) told the court it would defend its journalism as being both true and in the public interest, and described the conspiracy claim as a “wild allegation”. The newspaper’s articles featured claims from a number of women in the film and TV industry who reportedly accused him of groping and sexually inappropriate behavior over a number of years.
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