A former Emmerdale writer has appeared in court after admitting to assaulting his partner.

Bosses from the ITV soap have said that they are ‘shocked and appalled’ by the incident.

Martin Fustes, 47, admitted to the assault of his girlfriend, causing actual bodily harm, and an offence of intentional suffocation on January 27.

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 given a ten-year restraining order.

He reportedly left his partner fearing for her life and when he turned nasty during a late-night argument, according to Hull Live.

Samantha Laws, prosecuting at Hull Crown Court, said Fustes and his partner had been together for around 13 years at the time and were living together with their children in Beverley, East Yorkshire.

The court was told that an argument had broken out, with Fustes raising the issue again when they went to bed at 10.30pm.

Fustes had been abusive and disparaging and had prodded her in the face and upper body with his fingers, keys and a vape before spitting in her face. He put both hands around her neck two or three times and blocked her from leaving the bedroom.

He also wrapped a dressing gown hood around her neck and pulled her back to the bed.

‘He was repeatedly shoving and pushing her back to the bed,’ Miss Laws told the court. ‘She attempted to escape. He placed his hands over her mouth and nose and stopped her ability to breathe. She could see stars.’

Following this, grabbed her phone off her and pulled off her watch, before telling her he wanted to kill her and chop up her face, and that he wished she was hanging from a tree and set alight.

‘She was able to escape through the front door of the house,’ said Miss Laws. ‘She began to run to the local police station but he quickly caught up with her and pleaded with her to return. She did return home.’

The arguing and abuse continued until Fustes allowed her to go to sleep at 3am.

In court, the woman claimed that this was the culmination of more than a decade of abuse. The attack left her ‘distraught and sickened’.

‘I thought I was going to die. I had no other option but to escape and run down the street,’ she said of the suffocation.

‘I struggle to feel safe in my home. I can’t help but relive the incident, often as nightmares. The disruption he has caused in our lives has been significant. I started to feel relieved to be free of often daily abuse.’

Fustes has been an Emmerdale writer for over ten years, and has worked on domestic abuse storylines as recently as last year, including an episode that saw Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) attend a survivors group following her domestic abuse at the hands of Tom King.

An Emmerdale spokesperson has said that Mr Fustes has been informed he will no longer be writing for the soap.

A statement read: ‘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.’