Noel Clarke must pay £3m to Guardian after losing legal battle7 hours ago Share Save Lizo Mzimba Culture correspondent and Emma Saunders Culture reporter Share SavePA Media Noel Clarke told the High Court a "crushing" financial order would punish his family as well as himActor Noel Clarke must pay at least £3m of the Guardian publisher's legal costs after pursuing a "far-fetched" and "false case" against the newspaper for reporting sexual misconduct allegations, a High Court judge has ruled. He is likely to have to pay even more in total after the Guardian told the court that a conservative estimate of its total costs was £6m. 'Far-fetched'The usual costs rule is that the winner of a trial, in this case the Guardian, receives its costs from the losing party, in this case Clarke. Judge Mrs Justice Steyn said he must pay £3m within the next 28 days, ahead of a detailed assessment into the total costs to be recovered. Clarke, who represented himself at the hearing, told the court he thought the Guardian's legal costs were excessive and should be reduced.