Micheal Ward told the jury the encounter with his accuser was "wholly consensual".

British actor Micheal Ward has been cleared of raping a woman who claimed he had attacked her in the back of a car. Ward, 28, denied two charges of rape and three of sexual assault, and a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court acquitted him on all counts on Friday. He had met the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at an east London nightclub on 2 January 2023. Bafta winner Ward, who is best known for the film Blue Story and Netflix series Top Boy, said: "Everything we did was wholly consensual." During the trial, Ward told the jury he thought they were "having a great time" during the encounter. The court heard the actor - who played gang leader Jamie in Top Boy - thought the woman was "very cute" when he met her and sensed "there was interest there". He asked her to join him in a car, where there was a "continuation of the flirting". "She was reciprocating the energy. She was pulling me close. For me, that was an inviting act and we were both enjoying that moment," Ward said, adding that she "never mentioned anything about wanting to leave".