Emmerdale has withdrawn its entry for the Bafta Best Soap award after one of its writers – Martin Fustes – was convicted of domestic abuse.
The ITV soap – which has been airing since 1972 – pulled out of the prestigious category following revelations about scriptwriter Fustes, who admitted to assaulting his partner.
Bafta informed its members yesterday that “ITV and Emmerdale have taken the decision to withdraw from the soap category from this year’s awards.
The withdrawal comes “in consideration of recent news involving a member of the scriptwriting team,” according to a statement from the broadcaster after the soap had been hoping to be named Best Soap and Continuing Drama at the ceremony in May.
Hull Crown Court heard that Fustes, 47, assaulted his girlfriend at their Beverley home on January 27 following an argument, with the writer becoming abusive, prodding her in the face and upper body before spitting in her face.
It was reported that he put his hands around her neck multiple times and blocked her from leaving the bedroom, as Prosecutor Samantha Laws told the court: “He placed his hands over her mouth and nose and stopped her ability to breathe. She could see stars.”
Fustes later grabbed her mobile phone, pulled off her watch and told her he wanted to kill her and “chop up her face,” leaving the woman to tell the court the incident was “the culmination of more than a decade of abuse.”
“I thought I was going to die. I had no other option but to escape and run down the street,” she said in her statement.
She managed to flee through the front door and began running to the local police station, however, Fustes caught up with her and persuaded her to return home.
The victim said she was “distraught and sickened” by the verbal abuse she endured as she added in her statement: “I struggle to feel safe in my home. I can’t help but relive the incident, often as nightmares.”
Fustes admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and intentional suffocation and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence at Hull Crown Court on February 28.
The court also ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation and a 26-session probation service domestic abuse programme.
Fustes must pay £2,000 compensation and £150 costs, alongside a ten-year restraining order being imposed against him.
Connor Stuart, mitigating, described it as “a serious but isolated incident” and claimed Fustes had shown “genuine remorse,” telling the court: “This relationship is concluded. This is the last time that he will trouble these courts.”
An ITV spokesperson said: “We were shocked and appalled to learn about the recent court case involving Emmerdale writer Martin Fustes.”
The broadcaster confirmed that Fustes, who had worked on the soap for over 10 years, “will no longer be writing for Emmerdale.”
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The case has highlighted a stark irony as Emmerdale has recently featured a prominent domestic abuse storyline, leaving the spokesperson to add: “Everyone at ITV and Emmerdale abhors domestic abuse, which is why we have been highlighting the issue in a major storyline over the last 12 months.”
The production team stated they “were not aware of these charges against Mr Fustes until we were alerted over the weekend.”
The Sun reported that Bafta members have already been informed about the withdrawal and asked that anyone who had previously voted for Emmerdale will now need to recast their votes following the soap’s exit from the category.
The soap had been in contention for both the Best Soap award and the Continuing Drama award at the ceremony scheduled for May, however, ITV felt it would be inappropriate to remain in the competition given recent developments.
