Noel Clarke accuses Guardian publisher of ‘fabricating’ evidence in libel claim
Noel Clarke has accused The Guardian newspaper’s publisher of fabricating and deleting evidence over claims of sexual misconduct against him, the High Court has been told.
The 49-year-old actor, best known for his film Kidulthood and starring in Dr Who, is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) for libel over a series of articles which began with an investigative feature in April 2021.
Some 20 women who knew him in a professional capacity had come forward with allegations against him, the newspaper reported.
Clarke, who was present in court for the latest hearing, wearing a grey suit and dark-rimmed glasses, vehemently denied any sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing in a statement released at the time.
GNM is defending the legal action at the High Court in London on the grounds of truth and public interest.
At a hearing on Wednesday ahead of a full trial, lawyers for Clarke applied for GNM’s defence case to be struck out.
Clarke won BAFTA’s rising star award in 2009. Pic: AP
Philip Williams, representing Clarke, said in a written submission to the court that they believe there is “overwhelming evidence not just of an attempt to pervert… but actual perversion of the course of justice”.
He also alleged there had been “deliberate and permanent deletion of personal correspondence between the three journalists that undertook the purported investigations, as well as fabrication”.
This makes it “impossible for the defendant to legitimately put forward a positive case that it reasonably believed publishing the defamatory articles were in the public interest”, he argued.
Mr Williams claimed two freelance journalists were instructed to “carry out wholesale deletion” of threads on the encrypted messaging app Signal.
He also told the hearing that one of the messages said: “Delete this entire thread. I’ll create a new thread which will likely be disclosable in court.”
Another message allegedly said: “Can we delete all these threads and use the final thread from now on?”
In his written submissions, Mr Williams said the messages illustrated “intent and taking steps to fabricate evidence”.
Read more from Sky News:
TV antiques expert dies
Jake Paul and Logan Paul tease fight
He described the alleged “destruction of evidence” as “widespread and wholesale”, and added: “It is something which they frankly admit.
“For example, the claimant maintains that four other group chats were set to auto-delete. This is admitted by the defendant.”
Mr Williams said it was “notable” the messages instructed the two more junior journalists to delete messages, and that there was also the creation of a “carefully curated thread”, which would assist the publisher’s case.
He added: “The crux of the strike-out application is whether there had been perversion of the course of justice, or spoliation of evidence which renders a fair trial impossible.”
Gavin Millar, representing GNM, told the court in written submissions that Clarke seeks to deprive the publisher “of its right to the trial of its defences of truth and public interest”.
He described the application as “a poor and opportunistic one for which there is no adequate evidential basis” and said it sought “to smear Guardian journalists and editors without any proper justification”.
Mr Millar added: “There is no evidence either that any evidence was ‘fabricated’.”
He told the court: “None of this ‘evidence’ raises an arguable prima facie case of bad faith, still less criminal conduct against anyone.”
After the allegations emerged, Clarke had his BAFTA membership suspended and several TV channels also cut ties with him.
Scotland Yard said in a statement in March 2022 that, following a thorough assessment by specialist detectives, officers decided that the information they received did not meet the threshold for a criminal investigation.
Thousands of members of actors’ trade union Equity are being asked whether they would support industrial action over artificial intelligence protections.
The organisation has launched an indicative ballot among about 7,000 members working in film and TV.
Performers are being asked whether they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure adequate artificial intelligence protections.
It will be the first time the performing arts and entertainment trade union has asked this whole section of its membership to vote in a ballot.
The Hollywood strikes took place in 2023. File pic: AP
The announcement follows the Hollywood strikes in 2023, when members of Equity’s sister union in the US, SAG-AFTRA, and writers, went on strike over issues including AI.
Video game actors in the US also protested over the use of AI, ending almost a year of industrial action earlier in 2025.
Equity’s ballot opens on Thursday and runs for two weeks, and will show the level of support the union has for action short of a strike.
Another statutory ballot would have to be made before any industrial action is taken.
“While tech companies get away with stealing artists’ likeness or work, and the government and decision makers fret over whether to act, unions including Equity are at the forefront of the fight to ensure working people are protected from artificial intelligence misuse,” Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said in a statement.
“If bosses can’t ensure someone’s likeness and work won’t be used without their consent, why should performers consent to be digitally scanned in the first place?”
Mr Fleming said the ballot would give members the opportunity to “send a clear message to the industry: that it is a basic right of performers to have autonomy over their own personhood and identity”.
The union has no choice but to recommend members support industrial action, he said.
“It’s time for the bosses to step away from the brink and offer us a package, including on AI protections, which respects our members,” added Mr Fleming.
The hotly anticipated Spotify Wrapped is revealing our top tracks, artists and albums for 2025.
But how does the streaming service calculate personalised summaries of users’ listening habits and rank the UK’s hottest artists?
Here’s a look at how your data is used.
The platform describes the annual statistics as “a chance to look back on your year in sound”.
It says data is captured between January and mid-November on every account, although it mostly excludes anything streamed in private mode. (Don’t worry, your passion for the Spice Girls can be kept secret.)
Wrapped presents personalised listening statistics, which Spotify calls the “real story of your year of listening”, alongside global figures for comparison.
The streaming service says Minutes Listened reflects the actual time spent listening to audio on the platform.
Once a user streams at least 30 tracks, Spotify generates a list of Your Top Songs. Similarly, Your Top Artists ranks artists based on total minutes listening to a particular performer.
Other metrics identify the top genres users have played, as well as podcasts and audiobooks ranked by total minutes listened. And if you’ve listened to at least 70% of tracks on a record, you’ll see top albums too.
Spotify also creates Your Listening Age, a guesstimate of your age based on the era of the music “you feel most connected to”.
The streaming service says the statistic is calculated using a five-year span of music which users engaged with more than other listeners of a similar age.
Spotify has been summing up 2025’s most listened to tracks. Pic: Spotify
Swift vs Bunny
Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been named the UK’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the third year in a row.
But she dropped out of the top spot in the global rankings, coming second to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who secured more than 19.8 billion streams. Third were The Weeknd, followed by Drake and Billie Eilish.
Bad Bunny’s LP Debi Tirar Mas Fotos was the most listened-to album worldwide.
Read more from Sky News:
Sabrina Carpenter fury at video
Drake’s lawsuit dismissed
Spotify hikes UK prices
Spotify revealed Drake was the UK’s second most-listened to artist, followed by Sabrina Carpenter in third, The Weeknd in fourth and Billie Eilish in fifth.
Despite being the most listened-to artist, Swift failed to break into the UK’s top five most listened-to songs and albums of the year.
Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the most-streamed song, and Short ‘N’ Sweet, released by Carpenter last year, the top album.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024