Noel Clarke arrested in five-hour raid amid libel defeat
Police carried out a five-hour search at the Doctor Who actor's Kensington home days after a High Court ruling ordering him to pay Guardian costs.
Doctor Who star Noel Clarke was arrested during a five-hour police raid at his west London home on Thursday morning, days after he lost a sex abuse libel case against The Guardian.
Officers, including a specialist dog unit, arrived at the Kensington address just before 9am and spent more than five hours at the property, removing boxes that contained laptops and documents. Clarke, 49, was in custody for questioning.
Clarke had pursued a libel claim against Guardian News and Media over seven Guardian articles and a podcast, including an April 2021 report that said 20 women who knew him professionally had come forward with allegations of misconduct. In a High Court ruling last month, Mrs Justice Steyn said Clarke must pay at least £3 million toward the Guardian publisher's costs, with the total amount to be assessed likely to exceed £6 million.
The judge found that the claimant had advanced a far-fetched and in part false case by pursuing allegations of dishonesty and bad faith against most of the defendant's truth witnesses. Guardian News and Media defended its reporting as true and in the public interest, a position upheld in the judgment.
Police have not disclosed a reason for the arrest, and there was no immediate comment from the Metropolitan Police. Clarke’s case and the associated costs come amid ongoing scrutiny of the dispute in the wake of his defeat in the libel action.