Clarke to pay at least £3m of the Guardian's legal costs

Noel Clarke has been ordered to pay the Guardian an initial £3m towards its legal costs from successfully defending his libel claim over an investigation in which the actor was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women.

- Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent

Mrs Justice Steyn made the order at the high court yesterday after hearing the Guardian's total legal costs, which it is seeking to recover from the former Doctor Who star, were “significantly in excess of £6m”.

In a high court judgment handed down last month, Steyn rejected Clarke's claims and ruled that the newspaper had succeeded in both its defences: of truth and public interest.

The judge said the actor could expect to pay a higher proportion of the costs of the Guardian than usual because of his conduct during the trial. She said she had found him to be “not a credible or reliable witness” who had made a “far-fetched and indeed false” case that the articles about him were untrue.

Clarke had shown a “general pattern of only being prepared to admit that which was established by documentary evidence”, said Steyn.