Emmerdale has withdrawn its entry from this year’s Baftas following the news that a former writer pleaded guilty to the assault of his girlfriend.

Martin Fustes pleaded guilty to the assault of his partner, causing actual bodily harm, and an offence of intentional suffocation.

The soap would have been a frontrunner in the Best Soap and Continuing Drama category at the ceremony, which is due to take place in May. But following the court case has decided to pull out.

Emmerdale writer prosecuted

Hull Crown Court heard that writer Martin Fustes made violent threats toward his partner. He behaved in an “angry and aggressive way”. The woman in question was afraid that she was “going to die”.

Fustes was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. He also has to do 150 hours’ unpaid work, 15 days’ rehabilitation and a 26-session probation service domestic abuse programme. He was ordered to pay £2,000 compensation and £150 costs. A 10-year restraining order was also given.

A spokesperson for Emmerdale said: “We were shocked and appalled to learn about the recent court case involving Emmerdale writer, Martin Fustes.

“Mr Fustes is a freelance writer. He has been informed that he will no longer be writing for Emmerdale. 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 Emmerdale production team were not aware of these charges against Mr Fustes until we were alerted over the weekend.”

One of Emmerdale’s major storylines over the last year has been Belle Dingle‘s abuse at the hands of Tom King. The soap therefore felt it would be inappropriate to win any award on the back of the latest news.

The Bafta team wrote to members of Bafta and told them: “ITV and Emmerdale have taken the decision to withdraw from the soap category from this year’s awards. This is in consideration of recent news involving a member of the scriptwriting team.”

They also confirmed that anyone who has already cast a vote for Emmerdale will be able to recast their vote.

An Emmerdale spokesperson added: “ITV and Emmerdale have taken the decision to withdraw the episode nominations from this year’s BAFTA TV Awards.

“This is in consideration of developments in recent days involving a member of the scriptwriting team.”