Noel Clarke has lost a Court of Appeal bid related to his libel claim against the publisher of The Guardian.
The 49-year-old is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over a series of articles, including one from April 2021 which said 20 women who knew Clarke in a professional capacity had come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.
The former Doctor Who star, who denies the allegations, is bringing a libel and data protection claim against the publisher, claiming in a statement at the time that he “vehemently” denied “any sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing”.
GNM has said it will defend its reporting as being true and in the public interest.
At a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for Clarke made an appeal bid after a judge previously said that the actor’s request to amend his claim and add six more defendants would be heard after the libel trial, which is currently due to start on 3 March.
As well as increasing his claim for special damages to more than £70m, the actor wants to bring a claim over allegations that multiple people conspired against him to cause “irreparable damage” using fabricated allegations of misconduct or sexual assault.
His barrister Philip Williams told the Court of Appeal in London that the actor’s claim of an unlawful conspiracy “would essentially never see the light of day” if the application was heard after the main trial.
But in a judgment on Friday, three judges rejected Clarke’s appeal.
Lord Justice Warby said: “The claimant has however fallen a long way short of establishing that the judge’s decision offends the principles of natural justice, deprives him of any chance of a fair trial of his conspiracy claim, or removes his chances of legitimate vindication.”
The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Popplewell and Lord Justice Phillips, said it would be “fanciful” to expect the proposed six extra defendants to be able to defend the legal claim at the trial if joined to the case only a few weeks before.
Lord Justice Warby continued: “In my opinion the judge’s approach was fair and her procedural assessments were all legitimate.”
In January, Clarke’s lawyers made a bid for GNM’s defence case to be struck out, claiming that the publisher had deleted some messages and fabricated a thread on Signal.
Judge Mrs Justice Steyn rejected this bid in a ruling on 5 February, adding that the “extremely serious allegation” that evidence had been fabricated had “no foundation”.
In Friday’s judgment, Lord Justice Warby said that decision is subject to appeal and that Clarke’s lawyers plan to make a bid to reopen the strike out bid.
“As matters stand, however, the Liability Trial remains set to proceed on 3 March 2025,” Lord Justice Warby added.
Following the ruling, a Guardian spokesperson said: “We welcome the Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision.
“Our reporting on Mr Clarke in 2021 was based on the accounts of 20 brave women. After we published our first article, more women came forward.
“At trial, 32 witnesses are set to testify against Mr Clarke under oath. We look forward to the judge hearing the evidence.”
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