The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV yet, but is available to view on ITVX.
Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) can finally breathe – Tom King (James Chase) has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Tonight’s episode of the ITV soap focused solely on Tom’s trial. Alongside the likes of Belle, Tom, and Amelia (Daisy Campbell) being questioned, we also saw the jury attempting to reach an agreement over whether Tom was guilty or not.
For the majority of their discussions, the group were not on the same page. Heidi, played by Denise Welch, outright believed Belle was telling the truth but Karl, portrayed by Casualty’s Charles Dale, thought the young Dingle was lying.
As the back and forth continued, so did the questioning. Tom’s abuse of Belle happened for well over a year, which meant they both had to discuss things in their relationship that happened ages ago, like Tom burning Belle’s hand under hot water.
Perhaps unexpectedly, Tom continued to play the victim throughout. He claimed Belle’s mental health issues caused her to have anger problems – everything he said was a complete lie.
Alongside this was Belle’s truthful story. She told the court about the amount of times Tom physically and emotionally abused her, and it was clear from Charity (Emma Atkins) and Cain’s (Jeff Hordley) faces that they hadn’t heard the full story as well, because they found it incredibly hard to listen to Belle at some points.
Back in the meeting, time was running out for the jury. They were still clashing over who was lying, but then Kenneth (Jack Ellis) spoke up.
He revealed a young boy who his daughter was friends with grew up to become an abusive m.u.r.d.e.r.e.r, and was in prison after killing the mother of his children. He said when he met the woman, he noticed the light that would often glow around her had disappeared.
She never got the opportunity to tell her story, which filled Kenneth with heartbreak. He recognised similar signs and facial expressions when he saw Belle and knew if Tom walked free, history could repeat itself.
With that, the jury came to an end result.
The Judge sentenced Tom to three years in prison. This made Belle cry. Finally, it was over.
Outside, Belle opened up to Charity and said she only found the strength to open up because she went to a support group and met other people like her – victims of abuse.
As the ladies from the group glanced at the camera we returned to Belle. She too looked at the camera and let out a small smile. Relief.
At long last, she can finally start to move forward.
