Top Boy actor tells rape trial that encounter was consensual

Top Boy actor tells rape trial that encounter was consensualImage source, PA MediaImage caption, Micheal Ward, pictured last year, has starred in Top Boy and Blue StoryByTiffany WertheimerPublished2 minutes agoBritish actor Micheal Ward has denied raping a woman in the back of a car, telling a jury the encounter was consensual and he thought they were "having a great time".Ward, 28, is accused of raping the woman after meeting her at a nightclub in east London on 2 January 2023. He denies two charges of rape and three counts of sexual assault.Ward told Snaresbrook Crown Court in London on Monday that they had shared a "quite flirty" conversation and "passionate" kisses, which then became a "developing situation".The Bafta-award winning actor is known for his starring roles in the film Blue Story and Netflix series Top Boy.The woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - broke down last week as she told the jury she "did not understand the situation" she was in and that she "never would have got in that car with him" if she had known.Jurors were previously told she knew Ward had been in films and on TV and felt flattered when he asked for her Snapchat handle.The woman recalled that she "did not use the word no" during the encounter and "completely shut down", but said she told Ward that she needed to leave "on multiple occasions".On Monday, Ward told the court that she was an "active participant"."Everything we did was wholly consensual and we were having a great time," he said, when asked what he thought about the situation by his lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC."We had a mutual attraction with each other. We engaged in consensual sex, had a great time and she was actively participating in what we were doing all the time."The alleged incident happened during a new year party Ward was hosting in Gants Hill, east London.He told the court he thoug...