Allegations against Clarke were of 'very high public interest', says Guardian editor

The editor-in-chief of the Guardian, Katharine Viner, has told the high court there was a "very high public interest" in reporting allegations made against Noel Clarke after he received a special Bafta award.

- Daniel Boffey

In a witness statement, Viner said she believed it was conceivable that the actor's endorsement by the British Academy Film Awards could lead to an escalation of his allegedly abusive behaviour towards women.

Clarke, 49, who is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM), the publisher of the Guardian, for libel over seven articles and a podcast published between April 2021 and March 2022, was given an honorary Bafta in 2021, which was later suspended. Viner, who has been editor-in-chief since 2015, said that Clarke's alleged sexual misconduct appeared to be "something of an open secret in the UK film and TV industry". She was made aware of the intention to follow up on leads about Clarke's behaviour in April 2021 by the Guardian's head of investigations, Paul Lewis. Two journalists with experience of reporting on matters of sexual misconduct, Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne, were assigned to the investigation.

In her witness statement, Viner said she had been made aware that the Daily Mirror was also investigating Clarke but added: "We placed little, if any, importance on that in the timing of the publication."