Clarke keeps trying to turn claims back against accusers, libel trial told

Noel Clarke is trying to create "moral equivalence" between his alleged sexual misconduct and the behaviour of his accusers, the high court heard yesterday.

- Haroon Siddique

Giving evidence in his libel claim against the Guardian, the 49-year-old actor claimed that some of his accusers had voluntarily engaged in or initiated sexually loaded banter, were promiscuous and bragged about their sexual exploits.

On the Doctor Who star's third day of cross-examination, Gavin Millar KC, representing the Guardian, said to him: "You do this repeatedly, you turn the allegation back on the woman. It's a sort of moral equivalence, that 'she's as bad as I am'."

Millar said that "time and again" Clarke had sought ways to turn the allegations made against him back on his accusers. Clarke said he had told the truth and brought up women's behaviour where it was relevant. "In this world we're in right now, if a man makes a remote misstep, he is done," he told the court.

Clarke was asked about a 2016 Doctor Who convention in Bournemouth where he was sitting next to a volunteer, Lisa Graham, and is said to have: