Harvey Weinstein has appeared in court over a new sex crime charge, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel in New York in 2006.

The new indictment against the disgraced producer was first announced last week, just days after he underwent emergency heart surgery at a hospital in Manhattan to remove fluid on his heart and lungs.

Prosecutors did not give further details at the time, but said new charges were not part of the case that led to his now-overturned landmark #MeToo conviction in 2020.

Appearing in court in Manhattan in a wheelchair on Wednesday, Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new first-degree felony charge.

He wore a dark suit and a blue tie, with a large bandage on his right hand, and responded emphatically when asked for his plea. “Not guilty.”

Weinstein, 72, has always maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.

The new indictment accuses the former movie mogul of forcing a sex act on a woman at some point between 29 April and 6 May 2006, in a hotel in downtown Manhattan.

He is also charged with a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree, in relation to a previous New York State Supreme Court indictment, Manhattan’s district attorney Alvin Bragg Jr said. Weinstein has also pleaded not guilty to these charges.

“Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault,” Mr Bragg said. “This investigation is ongoing. If you have been sexually assaulted, I assure you that our team of dedicated prosecutors, investigators, social workers, and many more stand at the ready to support you.”

No details about the accuser involved in the new charge have been released.

“She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers,” her lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said in a statement.

Why was Weinstein’s original conviction overturned?

As well as this, Weinstein is also facing a retrial over his 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction, which was overturned by New York’s highest court in a landmark ruling in April.

The Court of Appeals ruled he did not get a fair trial as the judge who presided over the hearing had unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case.

Weinstein had been serving a 23-year prison sentence at the time. Despite the conviction being overturned, he has remained in custody due to another conviction last year, for the rape of an actress in Los Angeles in 2013.

The retrial is scheduled to start on 12 November, subject to possible delay due to the new indictment.

Prosecutors have said they will seek to include the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein’s lawyers say there should be a separate case.

Meanwhile, earlier in September, prosecutors in the UK dropped two charges of indecent assault brought in 2022, saying there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction”.

Once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, Weinstein co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, and produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.

A judge agreed last week to let Weinstein remain indefinitely in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital instead of being transferred back to the infirmary ward at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.

An actor has claimed he was the victim of “police misconduct” after allegedly being pepper sprayed in an “unlawful arrest”.

Reece Richards, who appeared in the hit Netflix series Sex Education and is currently touring in Hairspray The Musical, said he was thrown to the ground during a police chase on 4 September following a performance of the stage show in Fulham, southwest London.

He said the incident made it “painfully clear that racial profiling remains a significant issue”.

Responding to a post and footage shared on social media, the Met Police said officers had been pursuing three men who ran from a car that crashed after failing to stop for police.

Officers “often find themselves in dynamic, challenging situations and have to make split-second judgments on which course of action to take”, the force said, adding that a complaint was currently being assessed, along with other material including police bodycams.

“The man shown in the footage was de-arrested as soon as it was established by officers at the scene that he was not involved,” the force’s statement said.

‘I was face-down on the pavement’

In his post, Richards said he was the “victim of an unlawful arrest and police misconduct… just yards from my front door”.

He said he saw two men running from a car and shouted to officers to help them. However, he said officers said he was under arrest and told him to get to the ground.

“I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal,” he wrote. After allegedly being told to get on the floor, he claimed that “three more officers ran at me. They pepper-sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground, and handcuffed me.

“In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground”.

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Richards said he could hear his mum “screaming and crying” nearby, so asked her to call Brenda Edwards, the Loose Women star and director of Hairspray The Musical.

She arrived at the scene and officers, after checking bodycam footage, agreed to release him, the actor claimed.

Edwards shared a statement on Instagram which was also posted by the Hairspray production’s official account, saying: “We stand in full support and solidarity with Reece Richards, a valued member of our cast who was wrongfully targeted by the Met Police whilst making his way home after a performance of Hairspray The Musical.

“We strongly condemn any form of racism and discrimination.”

Richards is best known for his portrayal of Eugene in two episodes of Sex Education, also starring Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey and Asa Butterfield. He also appeared in You, starring Penn Bedgley.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police watchdog for England and Wales, said it had also been made aware of the complaint and has contacted the Met Police to discuss potential further investigation.

In an additional statement sent to Sky News, the Met Police said it was “clear the man shown in the footage was an innocent bystander and he was dearrested as soon as this was established by officers at the scene”.

The statement continued: “All officers know any use of force must be proportionate and reasonable and they understand their actions will be scrutinised.”

A complaint is currently being assessed by officers from the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), the force said, adding that none of the officers involved “are subject to restrictions at this time”.

Scottish comedian Janey Godley has cancelled her upcoming tour amid ongoing treatment for terminal ovarian cancer.

The 63-year-old revealed she is currently in hospital being treated for sepsis, which is now “under control”.

The comedian, from Glasgow, told fans in a video posted to social media that her “cancer is spreading” so doctors have advised her “not to work” as part of efforts to help her recuperate.

Award-winning Godley was due to embark on UK tour of Why Is She Still Here? this autumn.

In a statement on Wednesday, her team said: “Janey has been living with stage four ovarian cancer for the past few years and the treatment from the wonderful Scottish NHS has kept the disease at bay, but sadly in the last few weeks the cancer has returned and there have been a few added complications.

“Her doctors have now advised her that she must stop work for the foreseeable future.

“Janey is devastated to let down her thousands of loyal fans, and the wonderful venues she has played many times over the years.

“She would like to thank everyone for their love and support at this difficult time.”

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Godley, who found viral fame with her dubbed pastiches of Nicola Sturgeon’s COVID news briefings during the pandemic, revealed she had ovarian cancer in November 2021.

In the same year she faced controversy after offensive tweets by her came to light following an investigation by the Daily Beast website. The Scottish government coronavirus adverts she featured in were pulled as a result.

Godley profusely apologised for the tweets and donated the £12,000 fee she was paid to charity.

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In 2022 she was given the all-clear for her cancer and said in a post to X that a scan showed “no evidence of disease”.

However, she later announced that another scan had shown signs of the disease in her abdomen but added that she would continue with her tour in February and March 2023.

Godley told ITV’s Lorraine that fellow comedian Jimmy Carr played a key role in convincing her to continue her tour despite her diagnosis.

She said: “I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carr said, ‘is your mouth not working?’. I went, ‘yeah, my mouth works’ and he said, ‘well get back on tour.'”

In a video last year, Godley said she had received scan results that showed the treatment she was on was keeping her terminal and incurable ovarian cancer “at bay”.

Earlier in the year, Godley performed dates across the country in towns and cities including Bristol, Epsom, Norwich and Milton Keynes.