Actor Stephen Tompkinson has broken his silence over his stressful GBH trial and explained what happened on the night he was accused of attacking a man in Tyneside.
On May 11, the DCI Banks and Ballykissangel star was cleared of committing what he said would have been "career suicide" by attacking a drunken man outside his house in Whitley Bay. His career was put on hold for two years while he fought allegations he inflicted grievous bodily harm on Karl Poole.
Prosecutors had claimed he slapped and punched Mr Poole but Tompkinson insisted he had only pushed out in self-defence as Mr Poole came towards him. Mr Poole, who was very drunk and was wearing only underpants after a dip in the sea, ended up falling and banging his head on the ground, suffering a fractured skull and traumatic brain injuries.
Read More: TV star Stephen Tompkinson found not guilty of GBH on drunken man outside his Whitley Bay home
Tompkinson was found not guilty of GBH by jurors at Newcastle Crown Court. And on Friday, he appeared on ITV's Lorraine and spoke about what happened on the night in question, reports The Mirror.
He said: "It was about five o'clock on a Sunday morning at the end of May, beautiful day and these two chaps turned up, one just dressed in his underpants and socks and his friend who was also very dishevelled...they were the definition of drunk and disorderly. Several other people in the street had heard the commotion.
"They were in a heck of a state, it turns out the chap was four times over the drink drive limit and so I called the police. I was worried this bottle [of alcohol] was going to break in the area where the seven year old in the house plays on the skateboard and on a bike.
"They didn't seem to be horrible in any way...So I just thought if I asked them to move on and show them that I called the police. But, then they turned a bit nasty and turned on me.
"And I stopped one of them with my open palm from advancing any further because of the state he was in, he took a tumble and fell about eight feet away from me in that direction, smacking the back of his head and got a very serious brain injury, which, no joking matter that had to be investigated."
The actor added he felt the incident could have been "investigated a lot sooner and dealt with there and then rather than wait two years". Lorraine remarked: "Absolutely horrible, it’s so stressful and it has an impact, obviously, things going forward, workwise and it’s difficult with with relationships."
"Sure," he replied before praising his "fantastic" partner Jess and revealing she was dealt a horrific tragedy. He explained Jess' parents were sitting in stationary traffic when a lorry who, it was later discovered, was "sexting on his phone on an adult dating hookup site" didn't see the traffic had stopped "ploughed into them at 56 miles an hour killing them instantly and the driver in front".
Later in the interview, Lorraine said: "You're back and you've put all of this behind you and I have to say you're looking a lot better because I was a wee bit worried about you," to which he replied: "Yes, well I am eating again, which is good."
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