What were the claims against Noel Clarke that led him to take legal action?

By Nina Massey, PA Law Correspondent

During Noel Clarke’s libel claim, several women, including some whose real names were not used, gave evidence at the UK high court.

Allegations included inappropriate comments and groping. Clarke, 49, has always denied that he behaved inappropriately.

This is what some of the women allege happened.

– Joanne Hayes

In 2004, Ms Hayes worked with Clarke on Doctor Who as a costume assistant. She claims the actor made sexual comments to her while alone in his trailer on set.

He allegedly told her he liked girls with long hair, adding words to the effect that it is “nice to have something to hold on to when I do them from behind”.

She told the court she had not said anything at the time because she was making her way “up the industry”.

In her judgment on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn said Ms Hayes “gave truthful, careful and reliable evidence” and had “no reason to come forward and lie”.

She added: “I have no hesitation in rejecting the suggestion that Ms Hayes invented her account to seek attention.”

– Imogen

One actress, known as Imogen, said Clarke invited her to dinner in 2014, when she was 20 years old.

She alleged that Clarke propositioned her for sex and offered to take photos, talked about going to brothels, and tried to kiss her on the street after the meal.

The judge found that Imogen’s account was “honest”, and save for a few minor points, “it was also reliable and accurate”.

– Mila

The actress, known only as Mila, described how she was acting in a scene that required nudity from the waist down, when Clarke told her to bend over.

She also said that for the rest of the shoot, Clarke often asked her to “sit on his lap, and made inappropriate sexual comments”.

Mrs Justice Steyn said that unlike Clarke, “Mila had no reason to lie”.

– Naome Morris

In 2010, the then 18-year-old fan responded to a Twitter post from Clarke asking for nude pictures from fans.

She alleged that he repeatedly asked to meet her for sex and groped her under a table at a public lunch.

Clarke also allegedly told the teenager, who was a virgin, he would be honoured to have sex with her as “being a first is a big deal for a girl”.

In November 2010, Clarke blocked Ms Morris from emailing him, and shortly afterwards the police visited her home, making inquiries in relation to allegations of harassment.

Clarke eventually took legal action against the woman, asking her to sign an agreement promising not to blog, or tell anyone, or even post indirect tweets about him.

The judge said Ms Morris did not give evidence that Clarke’s behaviour in touching her leg or her bottom, or in showing her a photograph of his penis, was non-consensual.

She added: “I have not been shown any professional standards applicable to Mr Clarke, as an actor and director, in 2010, that would render his exploitative behaviour towards Ms Morris, in the context of a private, consensual, adult relationship, ‘professional misconduct’.”

– Gina Powell

Gina Powell, who was part of Clarke’s production company, Unstoppable, between 2014 and 2017, alleges the actor groped her in an elevator, exposed himself to her in a car and brushed off concerns about his sexual behaviour towards other women.

She also told the court in London that he kept a hard drive of naked pictures of others.

Ms Powell told the High Court that she came forward with her allegations after years of “guilt” over watching how he behaved with other women.

The judge found that on one occasion where Clarke pinched Ms Powell’s bottom when they were being photographed, “his intent was not sexual”, and it was “intended as a friendly and jocular attempt to provoke a startled expression”.

However, she also ruled that Ms Powell was “an honest, reliable witness and accepted that Clarke had shown her nude photographs, and accepted her evidence on what happened in the car and lift.

– Synne Seltveit 

Ms Seltveit met Clarke through her friend, Ms Powell.

She alleged that he sent her an unsolicited picture of a penis, which she assumed was his.

The judge accepted her evidence.

– Jing Lusi

The trial heard that actress Jing Lusi told the Guardian that Clarke would use an honorary Bafta to “dupe girls and lure them back to his lair” or use it to “silence them”.

Ms Lusi, who starred in ITV thriller Red Eye, told the newspaper it was “terrifying” that Clarke was due to be given an honorary Bafta in 2021.

The Gangs Of London actress, who worked with Clarke on the film SAS: Red Notice, said that during a dinner while filming the movie, Clarke suggested to her that they could do a read-through of the script in his “bed” or “bedroom”.

She also alleged, in a separate incident, that he told her he had “fantasised” about her and described what he wanted to do to her, leaving her “feeling so disgusted”.

Mrs Justice Steyn said Clarke’s behaviour towards Ms Lusi was not an abuse of power or professional misconduct, and the events described did not assist the Guardian in establishing the truth defence.

– Ivy

The woman had a brief relationship with Clarke, while he was married, and alleged that he shared nude photos of her, without her consent.

The Doctor Who star allegedly sent intimate images he took of the woman to a former friend, and further showed images he had been consensually sent by her to other people he knew.

The woman told the High Court she was “horrified” to discover the private images she sent to Clarke had been shown to others.

In her ruling, Mrs Justice Steyn said the Guardian had “established that Mr Clarke revealed naked photographs of Ivy without her consent”.

– Penelope

Giving evidence during the trial, the actress, who worked on a sex scene with Noel Clarke, said she begged him to stop asking her to look at him while he was exposed.

She said that despite his behaviour, she never “badmouthed” him to anyone, but knew he would eventually get found out.

Penelope alleged that after one sex scene, an aroused Clarke cleared the room and in a “hushed but forceful voice” insisted that she look at his penis.

She claimed he made comments saying, “It’s massive, everyone’s told me it’s big”, and on a separate occasion also told her she “didn’t have a white arse and that it was like a black girl’s”.

In her written judgment, Mrs Justice Steyn said: “I found Penelope to be an honest witness who did not embellish or exaggerate her evidence.

“I reject as unfounded the contention that she has conspired with anyone to harm Mr Clarke.

“I accept the clear and convincing evidence that Penelope gave regarding Mr Clarke’s misconduct during the filming of the sex scene.”

She added: “I have not found that the requirement for Penelope to be naked below the waist for the filming of the sex scene was introduced for Mr Clarke’s sexual gratification, but he did then take advantage of it for that purpose.”