Stephen Tompkinson broke his silence on Friday as he opened up on the stressful trial he endured after being accused of punching a man who suffered a double skull fracture when his head hit the pavement.
The DCI Banks actor was found not guilty of GBH but detailed the traumatic toll the trial took on him and explaining the details of what happened on the night in question.
Recalling the night, the actor 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 Johnson 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."
