Emmerdale star Sam Hall has said a sad farewell following his exit from the ITV soap.
Yesterday, Sam’s character Samson Dingle was sentenced to four years in prison. It came after he lied about the events surrounding Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) stabbing him, and assaulting Josh (Osian Morgan) earlier this week.
After Matty accidentally stabbed Samson, what followed next was a storyline that focused on a very innocent villager spending time behind bars. Because he is transgender, Matty lived in fear everyday that he’d end up in danger if his identity was exposed to the other inmates.
Eventually, Matty ended up in hospital after telling cellmate Les to attack him. In a heartbreaking twist, Matty orchestrated this because he knew he’d feel safer surrounded by doctors and nurses in a hospital. In the village, as Lydia (Karen Blick) discovered the truth about the attack, she sat Samson down and managed to get him to confess.
After very nearly going on the run, Samson came to his senses and knew he had to tell the police the truth. The situation was made worse though, as Samson was arrested after fighting with Josh.
In the Woolpack, as Amelia (Daisy Campbell), Noah (Jack Downham), Cain (Jeff Hordley), Moira (Natalie J Robb) and Charity (Emma Atkins) spoke about Samson’s fate, Lydia entered and confirmed the young man had been sentenced to four years, and that was before the recent assault charge was added on.
As the episode drew to a close, Samson was seen having one final chat with dad Sam (James Hooton), before he was taken away. Sam tried to tell his son that if he behaves well, he could be released in two years and not four. He attempted to make Samson feel better, but it seemed nothing was helping.
With time up, Samson and Sam stood up and said goodbye to each other.
The episode marked the end of Sam Hall’s time on the show, who has played Samson Dingle since 2009.
Following these scenes, the Emmerdale X account shared a sweet video of Sam, who said: ‘So, as you’ve seen, Samson has now left the village. It’s been a great storyline so I’d like to thank everyone who’s been with me – cast and crew – over the last 15 years.’
‘Hopefully, we see Samson again’.
Let’s hope so.
