ITV Emmerdale bosses have said they are ‘shocked and appalled’ after one of the show’s top writers appeared in court for abusing his partner.

Martin Fustes, 47, was described as being angry and aggressive when he told the terrified woman that he wanted to kill her and chop up her face. He told her that he wished that she could be hanging from a tree after being set alight.

She feared she was going to die after abusive boyfriend Fustes turned nasty during a late-night argument and began suffocating her by putting his hands over her nose and mouth, reports Hull Live.

Fustes, of Beverley, East Yorkshire, admitted assaulting the woman, causing actual bodily harm, and an offence of intentional suffocation on January 27. Fustes has been a writer for Emmerdale for at least 10 years, according to a fan page of the ITV soap, and is he is understood to have penned storylines about domestic violence. Domestic abuse has been a key Emmerdale storyline for the past 12 months.

A spokesman for ITV/Emmerdale said Mr Fustes had been informed that he will no longer be writing for Emmerdale. A statement read: “We were shocked and appalled to learn about the recent court case involving Emmerdale writer, Martin Fustes. Mr Fustes is a freelance writer and 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.”

Samantha Laws, prosecuting at Hull Crown Court, said Fustes and his partner had been together for around 13 years at the time and were living together with their children in Beverley. An argument had broken out and, when the couple went to bed at 10.30pm, he raised the matter again.

Fustes had been abusive and disparaging and had prodded her in the face and upper body with his fingers, keys and a vape before spitting in her face. He put both hands around her neck two or three times and blocked her from leaving the bedroom.

Fustes wrapped the a dressing gown hood around her neck and pulled her back to the bed. “He was repeatedly shoving and pushing her back to the bed,” Miss Laws told the court. “She attempted to escape. He placed his hands over her mouth and nose and stopped her ability to breathe. She could see stars.”

Later on Fustes grabbed her mobile phone from her, pulled off her watch and told her that he wanted to kill her and to chop up her face. He told her that he wished she was hanging from a tree after being set alight. “She was able to escape through the front door of the house,” said Miss Laws. “She began to run to the local police station but he quickly caught up with her and pleaded with her to return. She did return home.”

There was further abuse and arguing until Fustes allowed her to go to sleep at about 3am. The woman claimed in court that the incident was the culmination of more than a decade of abuse. She was “distraught and sickened” by the verbal abuse and said of the suffocation: “I thought I was going to die. I had no other option but to escape and run down the street.

“I struggle to feel safe in my home. I can’t help but relive the incident, often as nightmares. The disruption he has caused in our lives has been significant. I started to feel relieved to be free of often daily abuse.” Connor Stuart, mitigating, said it was deeply unpleasant offending but Fustes had no previous convictions and he had shown some degree of insight.

“It’s a serious but isolated incident,” said Mr Stuart. “He understands that it is over. This relationship is concluded. He has shown genuine remorse. This is the last time that he will trouble these courts.”

Fustes was given a two-year suspended prison sentence, 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 and he was given a ten-year restraining order.