A High Court judge has ruled The Guardian‘s reporting of sexual misconduct claims against actor Noel Clarke carried a number of defamatory meanings.

Mr Justice Johnson said in a judgment published on Wednesday that each of the articles cited in the libel claim were defamatory of Clarke at common law, and that they were facts rather than expressions of opinion.

The hearing, held last week, was to determine the meaning that a hypothetical reasonable reader would understand from the eight articles mentioned in Clarke’s claim.

Both Clarke and Guardian News and Media agreed that the words complained of were defamatory of him, with the exception of the final article about the Metropolitan Police decision not to investigate Clarke and subsequent “dismay” from women’s groups which GNM said was not. But they disagreed on the exact interpretations of the articles which should be taken forward to a libel trial.

Clarke’s lawyers said the articles implied he was guilty of the offences alleged, whereas The Guardian argued the articles were reporting allegations.