CONTROL FREAK Tom King turns violent as wife Belle Dingle bravely takes a stand in Emmerdale
Tom starts to use technology to keep tabs on his spouse.
TOM King turns violent as he loses control of wife Belle Dingle in Emmerdale.
The vet – played by James Chase – has been displaying more controlling behaviour towards his spouse since their wedding day earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Tom kept a job opportunity at Take a Vow from Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and also cruelly destroyed her mum Lisa Dingle’s ashes.
In upcoming scenes, he is perturbed when he realises his wife has lied about her whereabouts.
Belle texts her husband to say she will be late home from work, but his tracking app shows she is in a car on the move, leaving him livid.
Belle feels guilty when Tom calls to ask where she is, and she tells him she is still at work, when really she is in the Hide.
Knowing her real location from his tracker app, Tom’s fury increases even more.
He then heads down to the Hide and spots Belle apparently having the time of her life.
Tom does his best to stop his passive aggression leaking through his good humoured facade as he pretends he’s fine with Belle continuing to socialise at the Hide.
But back home and unable to cope with his lack of control over Belle’s life, Tom loses control of himself and trashes the place in a fit of rage.
The abuse plot between the newlyweds was confirmed last month by Emmerdale bosses.
The programme has worked with outside partners including domestic abuse charities New Beginnings Peer Support and Refuge to develop the storyline.
Producer Laura Shaw said: “Soaps are in the extraordinary position of being able to highlight what happens behind the public face of an abusive relationship, over a longer period of time.
“The audience knows these characters so well, sometimes as well as they might know their own friends and family, and they care deeply about them.
“As harrowing as it can be to watch this type of storyline play out, it’s imperative that we use our platform to shine a light on domestic abuse, and help give a voice to people who have so often been silenced.”
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.
