Woman tells court of 'shock' at Noel Clarke 'assault'

A woman who worked alongside actor Noel Clarke has told the High Court of her "shock" when he sexually assaulted her on a business trip to Los Angeles in 2015.

Gina Powell, who worked at Mr Clarke's film and TV company, Unstoppable Productions, is one of several women who gave accounts to The Guardian of what they said were their experiences of his conduct.

In 2021 the newspaper published a series of articles reporting allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour by the actor, which he strenuously denies.

He is suing The Guardian for defamation.

Giving evidence, Ms Powell told the High Court trial about being sexually assaulted, saying Mr Clarke grabbing her genitals through her dress and underwear was "one of the worst moments of my life".

She said the two of them were in a lift on the way to a business meeting, and that she was "shocked and heartbroken" that someone she called her " big brother" would do that to someone she thought saw her as their "little sister".

She said she recalled thinking that "part of me had died that day".

Mr Clarke's barrister, Philip Williams, suggested she was embellishing the facts.

She responded that the incident put her "in so much shock". And that that was the "the moment I felt I had to get out" of the company [Unstoppable]. She said that took 18 months.

Ms Powell also told the court that on two occasions Mr Clarke had asked to her to arrange hotel rooms for him to have sex with women, and that he had shown her pictures he kept on a hard drive containing private images of women he had slept with.

She also said he had shown her a covertly shot video of an actress auditioning naked for a role.

The court was also played an audio recording made of a conversation between Ms Powell and Mr Clarke where she spoke about her recent sexual activity.

Mr Williams put it to her that this demonstrated she was the one who initiated sexual conversations with Mr Clarke, and that she was open and comfortable with this.

She told the court she was "excited" about what had happened, but that speaking about sexual matters to Mr Clarke was a way "to placate him", because she knew he was angry with her because of an earlier incident.

Ms Powell had previously told the court Mr Clarke encouraged a sexual culture at the company, including asking her to send him links to pornography. She said it was a culture she did not enjoy or encourage.

Mr Williams challenged her, saying that at the time she was "flirting" with Mr Clarke.

"You were obsessed with Mr Clarke," he said.

"Absolutely not", she replied.

The court also heard from a woman who was involved with a number of projects with Mr Clarke.

She said that on one occasion while he was driving the two of them, he exposed himself to her. She said that he made eye contact, then looked down and said "Go on".

She told the court that on another occasion they were posing for a photograph along with another individual, when without warning Mr Clarke pinched her bottom.

The case continues.