LONDON (AP) 鈥 British actor Micheal Ward was acquitted Friday of rape and other charges in a London court on allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in the back of a friend's Mercedes in 2023.
Ward, 28, who starred in the Netflix crime drama 鈥淭op Boy,鈥 sobbed after a jury in Snaresbrook Crown Court found him not guilty 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-directed series 鈥淪mall Axe.鈥
Ward had denied the charges and said he had 鈥渇ull faith鈥 he鈥檇 be cleared of the charges. He testified at trial that he met the woman at a party and that they had consensual sex.
Defense lawyer Humzah Ilyas said Ward had put his life on hold for more than three years and was 鈥渓ooking forward to getting back to doing the work he loves.鈥
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