Sometimes you just need to pull on the thread.

That’s how it started for two Guardian reporters in the spring of 2021, when they began to investigate claims about the behaviour of Noel Clarke, the prominent British actor and filmmaker.

Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne spoke to many sources, including more than 20 women who shared their stories about working with Clarke. Their accusations covered all manner of misconduct: sexual harassment, unwanted touching and groping, sexually inappropriate behaviour, taking and sharing sexually explicit pictures and videos without consent, and bullying.

The allegations spanned a long period, from 2004 to 2019 and were the basis of a powerful series of Guardian articles and a podcast, which led to Clarke suing the Guardian.

The six-week trial took place in the high court in March and April, and the judgment came in today. Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that what the Guardian published was true, and that publishing it was in the public interest.

The judge praised our reporters’ and editors’ exhaustive approach to covering the story and noted the “extensive efforts they made to investigate, test and corroborate the information they received, and not to publish allegations which they........

© The Guardian