Stephen Tompkinson cleared of punching drunk man outside his house
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Actor Stephen Tompkinson has been cleared of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man he confronted for drunkenly making noise outside his house. But Tompkinson told jurors he only pushed Mr Poole away in self-defence and the contact “wasn’t enough to knock a sober man off his feet”. I didn’t want to hurt him, I wanted to stop him to change his mind about coming towards me and further on to my property Stephen Tompkinson Neighbour Caroline Davidson, who was watching from her bedroom window, told the court she saw Tompkinson slap and punch Mr Poole, causing him to stumble and fall backwards, hitting his head on the ground. Tompkinson told the court he has lost acting work since being charged and any association with him in the industry was “on hold” while the legal proceedings were hanging over him.