ITV has announced that it has withdrawn Emmerdale from the BAFTA TV Awards' soap category this year, after a writer on the soap admitted to charges of attacking his girlfriend.
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The writer, Martin Fustes, has writing credits for 758 episodes of Emmerdale, and has himself written over 170 episodes.
Following the news of his admitting the charges, ITV has also severed ties with Fustes, and he will no longer be writing on the soap.
An ITV spokesperson said in a statement, as reported by Deadline: "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."
Emmerdale. ITV
On withdrawing from this year's BAFTA TV Awards, the spokesperson said: "ITV and Emmerdale have taken the decision to withdraw from the Soap category from this year’s BAFTA TV Awards. This is in consideration of recent news involving a member of the scriptwriting team."
The case involving Fustes was heard at Hull Crown Court. Fustes admitted to assaulting the woman in question, as well as to causing actual bodily harm and an offence of intentional suffocation on 27th January.
Hull Live has reported that he 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 also ordered to pay £2,000 compensation and £150 costs, and he was given a 10-year restraining order.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
