British actor Stephen Tompkinson has described his Educating Rita co-star Jessica Johnson as a “shining light” who looked after him during his grievous bodily harm investigation and trial. The DCI Banks star was accused of punching a drunk man in the head, who fell to the ground and broke his skull, after finding him and a friend drinking and making noise at the bottom of his driveway in the early hours of May 30, 2021.
The 57-year-old was cleared by a jury of inflicting GBH earlier this month at Newcastle Crown Court. On Friday, he appeared on ITV’s Lorraine in his first televised interview since the trial, recalling the incident which he said “could have been investigated a lot sooner and dealt with there and then rather than waiting two years”.
He credited his Educating Rita co-star Johnson as inspiring him to get through the ordeal with her strong attitude after she experienced a traumatic incident. “Jess was amazing,” he said. “And frankly, my problems went into a top hat six weeks later when Jess’s parents were sitting in stationary traffic in Durham.
