Noel Clarke loses appeal court challenge that could have delayed Guardian libel trial

Lawyers for Noel Clarke had wanted to introduce a claim of ‘conspiracy’, which would have added six new co-defendants to the case. Photograph: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures/Getty Images

Noel Clarke has suffered a legal setback in his lawsuit against the Guardian after the court of appeal rejected his 11th-hour attempt to add a “conspiracy” claim to his lawsuit, which could have delayed the start of the libel trial.

The claim would have involved adding six co-defendants to the case before the trial.