Emmerdale spoilers – ‘True love’ Vinny rescues Belle from the clutches of evil abuser Tom?

Gradually in Emmerdale Tom King (James Chase) has shown his true colours in relation to his new wife, Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper). People outside the marriage see Tom as the perfect man – he’s doing a responsible job as a vet, he’s kind, caring and seems to be entirely smitten with Belle.

But viewers have long sensed that something was ‘off’ with Tom, and when he violently pushed Belle after she rejected his initial marriage proposal his mask was truly off.

Since then we haven’t seen a repeat of any violence towards Belle but Tom’s behaviour has been insidious and controlling. He’s used emotional blackmail to manipulate her to do what wants.

Tom’s behaviour can be horribly cruel, as we saw when he broke the container that held Belle’s mum’s ashes. As a distraught Belle held the broken pieces, crying over the loss of something so important to her and the family, Tom’s reaction later was to refuse to let her get in the car in case she dirtied the upholstery because her clothes were marked with the ashes.

He’s also taken to tracking her movements with an app and he used this recently to track her down at the Hide, where he found her enjoying herself. Livid, he went home and smashed the place up, later covering that it was a ‘burglary.’

What Belle really needs (apart from to dump Tom, but sadly we’re a long way from that yet) is a friend. Someone who’s always watched out for her over the past few months is Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson).

The two have always been close, and there was even a suggestion of a possible romance between them at one point after Vinny’s wife Liv (Isobel Steele) died, but it didn’t materialise.

What they do have is an enduring friendship and when Tom first returned to the village he was jealous of the bond between them. Belle had confided in Vinny about her mental health struggles and he was someone she could trust to have her back – and Tom resented this.

In upcoming episodes he gets angry when he sees that Belle is spending a lot of time with Vinny and the dogs. Belle gets called in to work and Vinny says he’s happy to look after her dog Piper – only to discover later that the dog is missing.

Belle is distraught, and this is Tom’s chance to swoop in and act like the calm, rational one as he supports Belle and reassures her.

Meanwhile, with the dog still missing, Belle and Vinny’s relationship is at breaking point, leading us to wonder whether Tom is behind the whole thing so he can drive a wedge between Belle and one of her closest friends.

Could this rip Vinny and Belle apart and leave her more isolated than ever?

And where is Piper?