Stockton's Stephen Tompkinson says assault would be 'career suicide'

The 57-year-old actor denies punching Karl Poole as he remonstrated with him and friend Andrew Hall, on the pavement outside the defendant’s Whitley Bay home, over the noise they were making at 5.30am on Sunday May 30, 2021.

Mr Tompkinson said he went out to ask them to move on, but due to their condition, which he described as, “the very definition of drunk and disorderly”, barely able to stand, he told them he was ringing the police.

As he waited to be connected to a call-handler, while holding his phone in his left hand, he said the mood of the two men turned from, “jovial to frightening”.

Read more: Stokton-born actor said he only 'pushed' man outside Whitley Bay home

He said as the men approached him he fended off Mr Hall, who was falling to ground anyway, and then he said as Mr Poole appeared to be approaching him, he swung over his right hand to prevent him getting closer.

Mr Tompkinson said he made brief contact, but “not enough” to make a sober man lose his footing.

But he said Mr Poole appeared to begin to fall backwards and, as he glanced back to Mr Hall, again, he (Mr Poole) must have stumbled and fallen to the ground.

The defendant denied the allegation that he had punched Mr Poole, who, it later emerged, suffered traumatic brain injury as his head hit the ground in the apparent unbroken fall.

Mr Tompkinson said a neighbour who observed the incident from her home 30-metres away in a residential street in Whitley Bay, must have mistaken him holding his phone out to the two men to show them he was ringing for the police, as a punch.

He said he could not have punched the man as he was holding the phone in that hand, and, asked about a bruise found on the hand later, he explained he received it in an accident erecting a gym bag for his “little-un” in his garden.

The 57-year-old Stockton-born actor said he had never punched anyone in his life, but conceded he was an “expert” in staged fighting for dramatic purposes.

Under cross-examination by prosecution counsel, Michael Bunch, he agreed he was “exasperated” at the drunken behaviour of the two men outside his home at 5.30am on Sunday May 30, 2021.

But he denied having, “any degree of anger” as he went out to urge the pair to move away from his home, as they may disturb his sleeping partner and their child.

“It was more the disappointment.

“They weren’t really registering any degree of normality to anything.

“They were so far gone it was difficult to communicate with them.”

Mr Tompkinson said he rang the police in the hope they would be able to move the pair safely on their way home.

“They didn’t look capable of getting home under their own steam.

“I wanted to get them assistance and get them away. It wasn’t a pleasant site.”

Asked about Mr Poole’s fall, Mr Tompkinson said: “He recoiled back, and went back of his own volition.

“There was no left punch on my part, nor were there any corresponding marks on the right-hand side of Karl’s face.

“There was no evidence of any punch at all, because one didn’t take place.”

Read more: Stephen Tompkinson accused of causing 'traumatic brain injury' to man

He said the reason he did not phone for an ambulance himself as Mr Poole lay unconscious, was that he heard him snoring and believed he was just in a “very deep sleep” due to his level of intoxication, as his friend, Andrew Hall, tried to rouse him.

Asked directly by Mr Bunch: “Is it your evidence what you did had absolutely nothing to do with Karl Poole ending on the floor?”

In response, Mr Tompkinson said: “I’m not responsible for Karl Poole’s skull fracture.”

He said it was due to Mr Poole’s “instability, due to the amount he had to drink.”

Mr Tompkinson said he could not haver punched Mr Poole with his left hand, other than the back of the hand, while he was holding his phone waiting for police to respond.

In re-examination, he was asked by defence counsel, Nichols Lumley KC: “Never mind the back of your hand Mr Tomkinson, could you have punched anyone with the front of your hand?”

Responding, Mr Tompkinson said it would be “career suicide” for him, "to do something as outrageous as assault someone."

Read next:

* Stephen Tompkinson case: Man left unconscious outside Whitley Bay home

* Actor Stephen Tompkinson denies gbh attack outside Whitley Bay home

* Stephen Tompkinson’s neighbour tells court she saw him slap and punch drunk man

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The actor, famous for tv series such as Ballykissangel and DCI Banks, among other shows on which he has starred and appeared, said as a result of the incident and subsequent court proceedings, it has put his career, “on hold”.

Mr Tompkinson, of Whitley Bay, denies inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues with closing speeches tomorrow (Wednesday May 10).