‘All he cared about was what he wanted,’ the victim told the court, ‘I believed if I did what he asked I could leave’
A woman said she “didn’t really feel like I had a choice” as she was raped in a car by “overpowering” Top Boy actor Micheal Ward, a court was told. Bafta-winning actor Ward is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court, accused of raping the woman after meeting her at a nightclub in east London.
The 28-year-old, who starred in Blue Story, denies two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, and one count of sexual assault against the woman on January 2 2023. At an afterparty in Stratford, London, Ward asked the woman to go to a car to talk – the alleged victim was given specific instructions to walk behind him and not to talk to anyone en route, the court heard.
In an interview with police on January 13, 2023, which was played to jurors, the alleged victim said: “I tried to leave the vehicle and he told me to close the door.”
Describing the alleged assault, the woman told police: “He said: ‘If I tell you to do it, you do it.'” Asked how she felt during the alleged assaults, the woman said she felt “numb” and “scared”, adding she remembered “wanting it all to be over”.
The woman added: “I didn’t really feel like I had a choice. I said I didn’t want to do it.”
In a second interview with police on July 29 2024, also played to jurors on Tuesday, the woman said: “He didn’t respect what I was saying. All he cared about was what he wanted.” The woman said Ward was “overpowering”, adding: “As soon as he made me get into the back of the car, the atmosphere completely changed.”
The woman, who cried as she spoke to police, added: “I genuinely believed if I did what he asked I could leave. I just didn’t feel like I had a choice but to be there.”
Discussing phone messages she sent to Ward after the alleged assaults that were initially not handed over to police by her, the woman said: “I don’t know why I chose to hide from them that we had a conversation after it happened.” The woman said she was “embarrassed”, adding, “I just didn’t really feel like I had an explanation as to why I replied.”
Ward was awarded the Bafta Rising Star honour in 2020 and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Bafta for his role in the BBC’s Small Axe in 2021 and the 2022 film Empire of Light.
The Jamaican-born actor played in the Soccer Aid match at Stamford Bridge in 2024 and gave a reading at the Christmas Eve carol service hosted by the Princess of Wales in 2023. He also appeared in the American film Eddington alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, which was released last August.
Ward was arrested on January 18 2023 and told police in a prepared statement: “I deny the allegation of rape. I want to put on record that we had consensual foreplay and consensual sex.”
The trial continues.
