'I have got two incapable drunks outside my home' - Stephen Tompkinson 999 call heard in court

• Latest ITV News report on the Stephen Tompkinson trial at Newcastle Crown Court

A court heard the 999 call recording Actor Stephen Tompkinson made to police after "incapable drunks" appeared outside his home.

Mr Tompkinson "slapped and punched" a drunk man outside his home in the early hours of the morning, a neighbour told a court today (4 May).

The 57-year-old, best known for his role in DCI Banks, denies inflicting grievous bodily harm on another man on 30 May 2021.

He is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Jurors have heard Karl Poole, who suffered a head injury, and his friend Andrew Hall had been drinking since around midnight and had gone to the beach to watch the sunrise before walking back past Tompkinson’s home in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.

Tompkinson went outside to confront the two men for making noise outside his home and called the police asking for them to be moved on, the court has heard.

In a recording of the phone call to police, Tompkinson said: "Hello mate. I've got two incapable drunks outside my house.

"One of them's just in his underwear. They can't stand."

The officer on the phone then asks: "Do you know who the people are?"

To which, Tompkinson responds: "No idea."

He adds: "There is a bottle of Jaegarmister between them that I've just taken off them. I've asked them to move. They can't move."

He was then asked to clarify how many of them there were and he answered "two".

The police officer then asks if they are both men and Tompkinson replies in the affirmative.

The police officer then adds: "Could I take your name then please?"

Tompkinson replies: "Stephen Tompkinson."

On Thursday 4 May, Tompkinson’s neighbour Caroline Davidson told jurors she was woken by "hysterical laughter" and looked out of her bedroom window to see two men lying on the floor.

She told the court the men appeared "very drunk", were "wobbling" from side-to-side and one of them (Mr Poole) was just wearing boxer shorts.

Mrs Davidson said she went back to bed but got up again when she heard a voice with a "different tone".

The court heard she knew Tompkinson as the resident of the house across the road but had not spoken to him since he moved in two or three years previously.

Mrs Davidson said Tompkinson "was using hand movements to ask them to move away" and at one point "pulled his fist back" but put it down "more or less straight away" before walking back towards his house while apparently making a phone call.

She told the court the two men then got up with some difficulty, put their arms around each other and "started to try and walk off" when her neighbour came out again.

"The two males started to turn. You could see that 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."

Asked by prosecutor Michael Bunch if there was anything that "precipitated that action", Mrs Davidson said: "No."

She said she was "100% sure" that the neighbour had moved towards the two men.

Mrs Davidson told the court Mr Poole "stumbled backwards and fell".

"He just went straight back and his head hit the ground. He just, he didn’t move.

HHe didn’t even put his hands out to stop himself, he just hit the ground."

Mrs Davidson said Tompkinson came out of his house when the police arrived and spoke to two officers.

She said he then placed a bottle of Jagermeister at the feet of the man lying on the floor.

Jurors have previously heard Tompkinson told police he had taken a bottle from the two men.

Asked if the two men made any aggressive actions towards her neighbour at any point, Mrs Davidson said: "No."

Also giving evidence on Thursday, Mr Hall said he heard a "cracking" when Mr Poole’s head hit the floor.

He told the court he "heard the hit of flesh" and saw his friend fall to the ground, but in cross-examination by Nicholas Lumey KC, said he only heard Mr Poole’s head hit the floor and did not hear the sound of the impact that caused him to fall.

Asked what Tompkinson did after Mr Poole was on the ground, Mr Hall said: "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 after the two had come towards him.

He denies the charge and the trial continues.

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