LONDON (AP) 鈥� British actor Micheal Ward was acquitted of rape and other charges Friday in a London court on allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in a Mercedes in 2023.
Ward, 28, who starred in the Netflix crime drama 鈥淭op Boy,鈥� was found not guilty by a jury in Snaresbrook Crown Court of two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.
Ward has appeared in films including 鈥淏lue Story,鈥� 鈥淭he Book of Clarence鈥� and last year’s American political satire alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal.
In 2020, he won the Rising Star award at the or BAFTAs. He was nominated for an acting BAFTA for Sam Mendes鈥� 鈥淓mpire of Light鈥� and for a BAFTA television award for the Steve McQueen-directbeed series 鈥淪mall Axe.鈥�
Ward had denied the charges and had said he had 鈥渇ull faith鈥� he鈥檇 be cleared of the charges.
Defense lawyer Humzah Ilyas said Ward was 鈥渓ooking forward to getting back to doing the work he loves.鈥�
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