Stephen Tompkinson trial: Actor ’caused traumatic brain injury’

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May 3, 2023, at 13:43 GMT

Updated 12 minutes ago

photo caption,

Actor Stephen Tompkinson denies causing grievous bodily harm to a man he encountered outside his home

Actor Stephen Tompkinson inflicted brain injuries on a man who punched him outside his home, a court has heard.

The 57-year-old, best known for his role in the ITV drama DCI Banks, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Karl Poole on 30 May 2021.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he punched Mr Ball to the ground, causing him to hit his head and fracture his skull.

Thompkinson, who lives in Whitley Bay, north Tyneside, denied the accusation.

Prosecutor Michael Bunch told the court that the actor called the police at around 05:30 before he was approached by two drunk men.

He told officers he had taken a bottle of Jagermeister from them and wanted to “move on” because they were causing a commotion outside the house he was living in with his partner and her child.

In the call, made in court, he said he had two “incapable drunks” outside his home and one of them was “only in his underwear”.

“I told them to move,” he told the call coordinator. “They can’t move.”

The jury heard that Mr. Ball and his friend, Andrew Hall, had been drinking since about midnight and had gone to the beach to watch the sunrise before returning to Mr. Hall’s house, passing Mr. Tompkinson’s house in Beech Grove on the way.

‘heavily drunk’

A neighbour, Caroline Davidson, was awoken by the noise of “laughing and going on” and looked out her bedroom window to see the two men mendacity on a path, with Mr. Paul in underpants with a towel at his side.

Mr. Bunch said she looked again about five minutes later and saw Mr. Tompkinson talking to the men and “formed a view from his hand gestures” that the representative was telling them to “go their way”.

“It appears one of the men said something, and Mrs. Davidson saw her neighbor withdraw his fist, before apparently thinking better and lowering his hand,” he said.

The court was told that the two men were “clearly drunk”, and Mr. Paul “could hardly stay upright” and stopped after walking a short distance before “swaying from side to side”.

Mr. Tompkinson then “slapped Mr. Paul with his right hand before punching him in the head with his left fist,” said Mr. Bunch.

He added that “Mr. Paul stumbled and then fell backwards hitting his head on the road, where he was unconscious”.

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Stephen Tompkinson found fame on the TV show Ballykissangel in 1996

The court heard that on seeing Mr Ball fall, Mrs Davidson told her husband to call an ambulance.

Jurors heard the actor, who starred as father Peter Clifford in Ballykissangel, used his mobile phone to record two videos of the men but did not call the ambulance service himself.

Still unconscious, Mr. Paul was taken to hospital and found to have a fractured skull and severe brain injuries.

Tompkinson, who was born in Stockton-on-Tees, told police he acted in self-defense and only pushed Paul after the men became “aggressive” towards him.

The court heard he had turned to face Mr. Hall, and when he looked back, Mr. Ball was on the floor.

However, Mr. Bunch said the actor’s claims that the men were aggressive were “not supported by any evidence”.

“The fact is that the defendant’s story is nothing more than a feeble attempt by him to shift the blame onto others for his totally unjustified aggressive actions.”

Giving evidence, Poole said he had “absolutely no memory” of that night and that the police statement’s description of what happened was “from what I was told”.

Tompkinson’s defence, Nicholas Lumley K. C, on Mr. Paul that he “fell by a little push” and has since overestimated what happened.

Mr. Paul confirmed that he had filed a compensation claim through the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority.

The trial, which is expected to last four days, continues.

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