Stephen Tompkinson trial: Neighbour of former DCI Banks star ‘saw him punch ‘very drunk’ man outside his Whitley Bay home’
A neighbour of British actor Stephen Tompkinson has told a jury she witnessed him slapping and punching a drunk man in the head during an incident outside his home.
Caroline Davidson gave evidence on the second day of the 57-year-old’s trial at Newcastle Crown Court, where he is accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Karl Poole in the early hours of 30 May 2021.
Tompkinson, known for starring in TV shows including DCI Banks, Ballykissangel and Drop The Dead Donkey, denies the charge.
On the opening day of the trial, jurors were told Mr Poole suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the incident.
He and a friend, Andrew Hall, had been drinking since about midnight and were walking past Tompkinson’s home in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, as they returned to Mr Hall’s house from the beach, the court heard.
Tompkinson went outside at about 5.30am to confront the two men for making noise outside his home, and initially called the police asking for them to be moved on, the court was told by prosecutor Michael Bunch.
On Thursday, the court heard from Mrs Davidson – jurors were told she knew Tompkinson lived at the house across the road but had not spoken to him since he moved in two or three years previously.
Giving her account of what happened, she told jurors she was woken by “hysterical laughter” and looked out of her bedroom window to see two men lying on the floor outside.
They both appeared “very drunk” and were “wobbling” from side to side, she said, and Mr Poole was only wearing boxer shorts.
Tompkinson pictured in 2018
Mrs Davidson told the court she went back to bed but got up again when she heard a voice with a “different tone”.
She could see Tompkinson “using hand movements to ask [the two men] to move away” and at one point “pulled his fist back”, the court heard. However, he put it down “more or less straight away” before walking back towards his house while apparently making a phone call, she said.
The two men then got up with some difficulty, put their arms around each other and “started to try and walk off”, Mrs Davidson said, before her neighbour returned.
“The two males started to turn,” she said. “You could see maybe something was being said. The next thing I knew, the neighbour had stepped forward and he had slapped one of the gentlemen, the one without the top on, with his right hand and then punched him on the head with his left hand.”
‘He didn’t move’
Asked by the prosecutor if anything had “precipitated that action”, Mrs Davidson replied: “No.”
She said she was “100% sure” Tompkinson had moved towards the two men.
Mr Poole “stumbled backwards and fell”, she said. “He just went straight back and his head hit the ground. He just, he didn’t move. He didn’t even put his hands out to stop himself, he just hit the ground.”
Tompkinson came out of his house when the police arrived and spoke to two officers, Mrs Davidson said, and then placed a bottle of Jagermeister at Mr Poole’s feet.
Jurors have previously heard Tompkinson told police he had taken a bottle from the two men.
When asked if either of the two men made any aggressive actions towards the actor at any point, Mrs Davidson responded: “No.”
Second witness gives evidence
Mr Hall also appeared in the witness box on Thursday, telling the court he heard a “cracking” sound when Mr Poole’s head hit the floor.
Asked what Tompkinson did as Mr Poole lay on the ground, Mr Hall replied: “I think he had his phone out but it was clear he wasn’t ringing for help.
“Later on, I don’t know the timescale, he showed a bit of humanity and a bit of remorse in my view, it must have sunk in what happened, but it didn’t initially. I believe he was on his haunches with his hands on his head.”
Jurors have heard Tompkinson told police he pushed Mr Poole away in self-defence.
He denies the charge and the trial continues.
Dolly Parton has declared she “ain’t dead yet” after her sister raised concerns about the singer’s health by asking people to pray for her.
“There are just a lot of rumours flying around. But I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was okay,” the 79-year-old singer said in a new two-minute video posted on social media.
“I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me. And I ain’t done working,” she added.
In the footage, captioned “I ain’t dead yet!”, the 9 to 5 singer is seen on a set speaking directly to the camera.
On Tuesday, a Facebook post shared by her sister Freida Parton escalated concerns around Parton’s health when she wrote that she had been “up all night praying for my sister, Dolly”.
Hours later, Freida Parton followed up with a clarification. “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly,” she wrote.
“She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer.”
Dolly Parton during a concert in Nashville, Tennessee, in March. Pic: AP
Last month, Parton postponed her first Las Vegas residency in 32 years, citing “health challenges”.
She was scheduled to perform six shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in December. The dates have been moved to next September
Parton offered her own clarification about her health condition in Wednesday’s video.
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“Everyone thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here! Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease, those of you who seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate,” she continued.
“And I appreciate your prayers because I’m a person of faith. I can always use the prayers for anything and everything.”
Dolly Parton performs with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in 2023. Pic: Reuters
She also referenced her late husband of nearly 60 years Carl Dean who died earlier this year at the age of 82.
“I want you to know that I’m OK. I’ve got some problems as I’ve mentioned. Back when my husband Carl was very sick, that was for a long time, and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself. So I let a lot of things go that I should’ve been taking care of,” she said.
“So anyway, when I got around to it, the doctor said: ‘We need to take care of this. We need to take care of that.’ Nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home, closer to Vanderbilt, where I’m kind of having a few treatments here and there.”
And in true Parton fashion, she ended with a joke: “I wanted you to know that I’m not dying”.
Dolly Parton’s sister has said that the country singer is “going to be just fine” after worrying fans by asking for prayers.
Freida Parton had asked people for prayers for the Jolene and I Will Always Love You singer on Tuesday.
“Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” Ms Parton wrote in a Facebook post.
“I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been [led] to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.
“She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!”
Parton performs during her concert in Ijsselhallen in Zwolle, Netherlands, in 2007. Pic: AP
After shocked fans took to social media expressing worry about Parton’s health, her sister said in a second post on Wednesday: “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.
“She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister.”
It comes after Parton announced in September that she had to postpone her upcoming Las Vegas residency over “health challenges”.
Dolly Parton performs with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in 2023. Pic: Reuters
“As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures,” the singer said at the time.
“As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”
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Parton said she was postponing the shows because she is “not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see. You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you”.
The country star was set to perform six shows at Caesars Palace in December, but her performance dates have been moved to September 2026.
“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” Parton said as she announced the postponement of her shows. “But I believe he is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you.”
The daughter of late actor Robin Williams has begged people to stop sending her AI-generated “slop” of her father.
“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” actor and director Zelda Williams wrote on Instagram on Monday.
“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening.”
Zelda Williams arrives in 2024. File pic: AP
She described the videos as “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs” made from the lives of human beings.
“You’re […] shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross,” she wrote.
It’s not the first time Williams has written about the impact of people sending her content about her father on social media.
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In 2020, on the anniversary of her father’s death, Williams posted on Instagram saying:
“While I am constantly touched by all of your boundless continued love for him, some days it can feel a bit like being seen as a roadside memorial – a place, not a person – where people drive past and leave their sentiments to then go about their days comforted their love for him was witnessed.”
“But sometimes, that leaves me emotionally buried under a pile of others’ memories instead of my own.”
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The death of Robin Williams in 2014, an actor and comedian known for his quick wit and wisdom, triggered a global outpouring of grief and tributes to the star still frequently surface on social media to this day.
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‘I’ve been turned into an AI announcer’
In 2023, Zelda appealed for the end of AI-generated content, saying in a widely-reported post on Instagram:
“I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real.”
“I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”
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