Actor Stephen Tompkinson's alleged victim has 'no memory' of punch to the ground
A man who was allegedly left with traumatic brain injuries after being punched by actor Stephen Tompkinson says he has no memory of the night.
The DCI Banks star, 57, is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Karl Poole on May 30, 2021.
Tompkinson punched Poole to the ground and left him with brain injuries after confronting him for drunkenly making noise outside his home, prosecutors told a jury on the first day of the trial.
Giving evidence on Wednesday, Mr Poole said he had “absolutely zero” memory of that night, and that details in the statement he gave to police describing the incident was “from what I’ve been told”.
Tompkinson played DCI Alan Banks in DCI Banks (©Justin Slee)
The actor denies inflicting grievous bodily harm (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Nicholas Lumley KC, defending Tompkinson, told him: “I’m going to suggest you fell as a result of a simple push and since that event you have exaggerated what happened that day.”
Actor Stephen Tompkinson arrives at court to stand trial over GBH allegations
Mr Poole confirmed he had made a compensation claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Earlier in the hearing, prosecutor Michael Bunch said Tompkinson called police at about 5.30am to report two drunken men outside his house in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
He told officers he had taken a bottle of Jagermeister from them and wanted them “moved on”, jurors heard.
Karl Poole says he has no memory of the night (Facebook)About half an hour later, a neighbour called the emergency services to report that one of the men was lying unconscious in the street.
Caroline Davidson, who watched the incident from her bedroom window, later told officers she saw Tompkinson slap Mr Poole with his right hand before punching him to the head with his left fist, the court heard.
She said Mr Poole stumbled and then fell backwards, striking his head on the roadway.
After Tompkinson was arrested, he told police he had gone out to ask the two men to move on, so they did not disturb his partner and her child, who were asleep in the house, Mr Bunch said.
Tompkinson arriving at Newcastle Crown Court (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)In his interview, he told officers he acted in self-defence after the men had become “aggressive” and moved towards him.
Mr Bunch said: “He said he had turned to face Mr Hall and then, when he looked back, Mr Poole had gone to the floor.
“The Crown say that this claim of aggressive behaviour by the two men is simply not supported by any of the evidence in the case.
TV detective 'left drunk man with brain injuries after noise row punch'
“The truth is that the defendant’s story is nothing more than a weak attempt by him to deflect blame onto others for what were his wholly unjustified aggressive actions towards Mr Poole.”
Tompkinson is on trial Newcastle Crown Court (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)The court heard that after Mr Poole had gone to the floor, Tompkinson used his mobile phone to record two separate clips of the two men, but did not contact the ambulance service himself.
Mr Poole, who was still unconscious, was taken to hospital and found to have a fractured skull with resulting significant traumatic brain injuries, jurors heard.
Tompkinson denies the GBH charge and the trial continues.
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