TV star faces cop quiz over abuse claims
Clarke stripped of bafta amid police probe into complaints
Dan Warburton
Accused Bafta-winner Noel Clarke is facing a police probe into a torrent of sexual harassment and bullying claims, it was revealed yesterday.
Detectives are examining claims made in a newspaper that the 45-year-old actor and director abused more than 20 women over 15 years.
The so- called “third party report” is anonymous, so cannot be investigated.
But it can be used as intelligence, including to see if it matches with other reports against the same person.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was “assessing the information”.
Clarke was suspended by Bafta and stripped of his Contribution to Cinema award after Thursday’s Guardian story.
Jaime Winstone, who was his Kidulthood co- star, backed his accusers. Alongside an image of the Times Up campaign logo, she wrote: “When you’re late to the party but you’ve been on the list for 15 years.”
Among the women who have made allegations is producer Gina Powell, who worked on Sky’s Brotherhood with him.
She alleged he told her he planned to “f*** and fire her” before changing his mind and that he bragged of having secret films of naked auditions.
Christina Chong, who played Nell McBride in the show, said claims about Clarke were the “UK film industry’s best kept secret for years”. She said: “Why would 20 women put themselves through
reliving their traumas to bring down an actor who isn’t even a household name?”
Mandeep Dhillon, who played Kamali Khan, added: “About f****** time.”
Since the original allegations, six more people have come forward with claims of misconduct, including ex-students from the London School of Dramatic Art. They claim Clarke encouraged a group to strip in a workshop.
Clarke’s lawyers denied the drama school asked him to stop leading classes and he denies encouraging or forcing anyone to be naked in the workshop.
Clarke, who is married to Iris Da Silva, “vehemently denies sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing”. He has also said he is “deeply sorry”.
ITV pulled the final episode of Clarke’s thriller Viewpoint from TV schedules over the “very serious nature” of the allegations.