Emmerdale villain Tom King burned by vengeful villagers for Bonfire Night – and he makes a fatal mistake
EMMERDALE villain Tom King exposed himself today as an abuser after the villagers burned an effigy of him over all he’d done.
The vet – who is played by actor James Chase in the ITV soap – is slowly being unmasked as an abuser who controlled, beat and terrorised wife Belle Dingle during their short marriage.
In today’s episode Tom discovered that his plot to gain sympathy by staging attacks on himself had failed.
Instead the village came together to burn an effigy of him for Bonfire Night – and he was horrified and then made a fatal mistake.
Amelia begged him: “Don’t rise to them Tom, because that’s exactly what they want.”
But he wanted to make a show of it and raged: “Is it not enough that I got a brick through my window, attacked and now this?
“Can you believe the absolute gall of that bunch of inbreds? I can’t believe they would pull a sick stunt like this.”
Jimmy told him to calm down and Amelia tried to get him to go home but Tom thundered over to the Dingles and demanded to know who did it.
Mandy strolled up first and told him: “I did it, what are you going to do about it?”
Paddy then joined her, adding: “No, no. I think you’ll find it was me.”
The pair were quickly joined by Chas who told Tom: “Sorry, well not so sorry.”
“Busted!” then said Sam as Aaron pushed through them to confront Tom head on.
“Why don’t you have a pop at me because it was me that did it?” he said as John backed him up offering to hold Tom’s coat.
Aaron added: “Oh yeah, I forgot, you only attack women, don’t you?”
Paddy stepped in and told Aaron: “Leave it, battering him isn’t going to help Belle is it?”
And then Amelia decided to shout from the sidelines: “The poor girl’s sick, can’t you see that?”
She went after Tom as he fled the confrontation and he turned on her in front of everyone.
“I didn’t even want to come here, it was your idea,” he raged.
Belle Dingle's biggest Emmerdale storylines
Mineshaft fall
One of her first storylines occured when the character was just seven-years-old. She was under the care of her uncle Shadrach Dingle (Andy Devine), who fell asleep. Daz Eden (Luke Tittensor) paid them a visit where he brought his pet ferret Spike. Although she was sternly warned against it, Belle let the animal out the cage and chased it through the fields. She she pursued the animal, she accidently fell down a mine shaft and had to be rescued.
Killing of Gemma Andrews
Gemma Andrews was played by actress Tendai Rinomhota. She was initially best friends with Belle before boys got in the way. After various dramatic moments, they got into an altercation. Belle pushed her to the ground in anger and Gemma hit her head. Belle was apologetic and she tried to help, but Gemma told her to stay away and they walked off in different directions. However, Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton) was left horrified after she found Gemma’s body near a hedge and she later passed away in hospital. Although Belle confessed her actions to Lisa (Jane Cox), her mother told her not to go to the police. But she later left the funeral to hand herself in, where she was charged with murder.
Jermaine Bailey affair
Belle first encountered Dr. Jermaine Bailey (Micah Balfour) when she needed treatment after she cut her hand on some glass. She was initially attracted to him, although she soon found out that he was already married. They could not stay away from each other as they met up at a factory to have sex. However, they accidentally started a fire when a candle was knocked into a bin. When he found out she was just 17-years-old, he tried to end their relationship, but they soon got back together. Belle later confessed the details of the affair to Jermaine’s wife, Angie Bailey (Nina Toussaint-White), after she became suspicious. Although he revealed plans to leave, she told him that she was pregnant. However she was actually faking it in an attempt to prevent him from leaving.
Schizophrenia diagnosis
After the details about the affair were revealed, Belle had a breakdown in the café. After paramedics were called, Belle went missing. A body was found by the police, but Zak (Steve Halliwell) and Lisa were relieved when they went to identify the body to discover that it was not Belle. After living rough, she collapsed from malnutrition and dehydration and was taken to hospital. When Zak and Lisa visited, Belle lashed out as she thought they would kill her. Belle was later assessed by doctors and after she claims that she could hear more than one voice, Jermaine thought she might have schizophrenia. The Dingle parents are informed that it might be best to send Belle to a unit in Surrey to recover from the episode. Six weeks later she returns to the village to visit her family.
Lachlan White
Belle was known for her relationship with Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson). The actor was known amongst soap fans for his portrayal of the serial killer from 2014 until September 2018. During his killing spree, he committed a number of murders. These included his mum and grandfather, Chrissie and Lawrence White, his best friend Gerry Roberts and a conman who pretended to be Gerry’s uncle. He attempted to kill rival Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) and Liv Flaherty (Isobel Steele) when he believed she discovered him. Many viewers also believed he had killed his aunt Rebecca, but both times she was revealed to be alive. When his crimes were discovered, he tried to go on the run where he kidnapped his girlfriend Belle Dingle. She then tried to escape, but was run over by Robert and Ross Barton (Michael Parr) who were looking for the duo.
Tom King
Belle married Thomas King (James Chase) in 2024, but soon after the marriage descended into chaos as Belle became part of a coercive control storyline. He locked her inside the house, secretly filmed her using CCTV, and subjected her to severe mental and physical abuse. He would also emotionally manipulate her too as he regulated and disposed of some of her mental health medication. After he made her think her beloved dog piper was killed in a road accident, she soon discovered his true nature. She tied to break free of his grip by telling her family. After he then tried to make her life hell in revenge, she attacked him with an axe in an act of desperation.
“This was you, meddling, making things worse and look at you – chasing after me like some stray dog. Do you see how pathetic you look?”
She fled in tears as the villagers watched her humiliation and Jimmy and Nicola looked concerned.