In a statement after Mrs Justice Steyn’s ruling in January, a spokesperson for The Guardian said: “We are pleased that Mrs Justice Steyn today rejected the entirely false allegations made by Mr Clarke’s legal team against our journalists.”.
Clarke first made the allegations at an earlier legal hearing, venturing claims that the Guardian had attempted to pervert the course of justice by deleting some messages and allegedly fabricating a thread on encrypted messaging app Signal.
Lawyers for Clarke, in their written submissions, say he faces “fabricated“ claims of rape, sexual assault, and other sexual misconduct, as well as “exaggerated“ allegations of sexual misconduct.
It is claimed 15 of the Guardian’s witnesses were “intimately connected“ to a conspiracy against Clarke, and he is alleging he fell victim to malicious allegations, fraudulent claims, and an attempt to encourage a police investigation against him.
The court heard the Guardian editor in chief Kath Viner and her deputy Owen Gibson were personally involved in the publication of the stories about Clarke, and are due to give evidence in the libel trial.
