British actor Micheal Ward has been acquitted of rape and sexual assault following a two-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London. The jury unanimously found Ward not guilty on all five counts on Friday, after deliberating for five hours and 25 minutes. Ward sobbed in court as each count was read out, and there were shouts of relief from family and friends in the public gallery.
Ward, 28, had been accused of raping a woman in the back of a Mercedes after meeting her at a New Year’s party in east London in January 2023. He denied two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault. During the trial, Ward told the court: “Everything we did was wholly consensual. We engaged in consensual sex, had a great time and she was actively participating in what we were doing all the time.”
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave a different account, telling the court she “completely shut down” and “did not use the word no” during the alleged attack. She said she had repeatedly told Ward she needed to leave. The jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict on all charges.
Speaking outside the court, Ward’s solicitor Humzah Ilyas said the actor was “looking forward to getting back to doing the work he loves,” adding that victims of sexual assault “deserve to be heard, treated with compassion, and have their allegations taken seriously.”
Ward was formally charged in July 2025 and had denied the accusations from the outset, saying at the time that he had full faith proceedings would lead to his name being cleared. He was granted bail in August 2025.
Ward first earned widespread recognition for his leading role in the Netflix series Top Boy, where he played Jamie opposite Kano and Ashley Walters. He received BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award in 2020 and has appeared in Blue Story, The Old Guard, Empire of Light and most recently Ari Aster’s Eddington, which debuted at Cannes last year. Following the accusation, Ward was dropped by UK agency Olivia Bell Management but continued to be represented in the U.S. by CAA.