Stephen Tompkinson cleared of punching drunk man outside his house
ok.co.ukActor Stephen Tompkinson has been cleared of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man he confronted for drunkenly making noise outside his house.The DCI Banks star was accused of punching Karl Poole in the head after finding him and a friend drinking at the bottom of his driveway in the early hours of May 30 2021.
Mr Poole fell to the ground and broke his skull when his head hit the pavement, Newcastle Crown Court was told. Prosecutors claimed Stephen “snapped” and “lashed out” at Mr Poole in “disgust” at his behaviour.
But Stephen told jurors he only pushed Mr Poole away in self-defence and the contact “wasn’t enough to knock a sober man off his feet”.
On Thursday, a jury found him not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after deliberating for just under two hours.The trial was told Mr Poole and his friend Andrew Hall had been drinking since midnight that bank holiday Sunday and had gone to the beach before passing Stephen Tompkinson’s home in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, on the walk back.
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