Actor Stephen Tompkinson has been found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after confronting a drunken man outside of his home.
The 57-year-old, who is known for his roles in DCI Banks and The Split, was accused of punching a man named Karl Poole in the early hours of 30 May 2021 after finding him and his friend drinking at the bottom of his driveway in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
Tompkinson stood trial at Newcastle Crown Court, where the court heard that Mr Poole had fell to the ground and fractured his skull.
The actor told jurors that he had acted in self-defence and the contact "wasn't enough to knock a sober man off his feet".
Following just under two hours of jury deliberations, Tompkinson was found not guilty.
Upon leaving court, he told reporters: "I just want to go home."
What happened during the trial?
The court was told that Mr Poole and his friend Andrew Hall had been drinking since midnight on the bank holiday Sunday and had gone to the beach before walking back, passing the actor's home.
Tompkinson, who was living with his partner and her seven-year-old son at the time, heard "strange noises" around 5.30am and called 999 after seeing the two men try to stand up and fall several times while drinking from a bottle of Jagermeister, the jurors were told.
While waiting to be connected to the call handler, Tompkinson went outside wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown and told Poole and Hall he was calling the police.
Neighbour Caroline Davidson, who was watching the scene from her bedroom window, told the court she saw Tompkinson slap and punch Poole, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the ground.
Giving evidence, the actor said: "I didn't want to hurt him, I wanted to stop him to change his mind about coming towards me and further on to my property," adding that punching a drunken man would be "career suicide" and that he had lost acting work since being charged.
Who is Stephen Tompkinson?
Stephen Tompkinson is a 57-year-old actor, known for appearing in several British TV dramas such as Wild At Heart, The Bay, and most recently, Sherwood.
He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, and moved to Scarborough at the age of four, and then to Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, where he grew up and attended school.
He went on to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, alongside James Nesbitt and Rufus Sewell, graduating in 1988. During his final year, he won the 1987 Carleton Hobbs Bursary, gaining a contract as a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company and as a result, landed roles in various radio dramas.
He made his small screen debut in a Channel 4 short titled Treacle, which received a 1988 BAFTA nomination for Best Short Film.
Over the next few years, he landed several single-episode parts before being cast in the Channel 4 sitcom, Drop the Dead Donkey, as the outrageously unethical TV reporter Damien Day, which would be his breakout role. Since then, he has been a regular fixture on British TV screens, appearing in shows such as New Tricks and Prime Suspect.
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