UK police charge actor Micheal Ward with rape and sexual assault

LONDON (AP) — British actor Micheal Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault, police said Friday.

The 27-year-old faces two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, the Metropolitan Police force said. The charges relate to one woman and the offenses reportedly took place in January 2023.

Ward denied the charges and said in a statement that he has “full faith” that his name will be cleared in court. He’s due to appear at London’s Thames Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 28.

Ward has appeared in films including “Blue Story,” “The Book of Clarence” and the recently released American political satire “Eddington.”

In 2020, he won the Rising Star award at the British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs. He was nominated for an acting BAFTA for Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” and for a BAFTA television award for the Steve McQueen-directed series “Small Axe.”