Emmerdale 'confirms' Tom King's real attacker as fans distracted by hospital blunder

Emmerdale fans were thrown another curveball as it seems the show has hinted Tom King's assailant was not his former flame Belle Dingle or her sibling Cain sparking theories among viewers on who is truly responsible.

In the episode aired on Monday (September 30), viewers saw Tom regain consciousness in a hospital bed, in agony, with his uncle Jimmy at his side. Policemen arrived to question Tom about the assault, but he couldn't give them anything concrete, claiming his memory was a "blank" before abruptly ending the interrogation.

Tom later confrontationally contacted Belle, rebuking her with: "Don't I even get a hello? After what you did to me?" then ominously warning her to come to see him in the ward "or else I'll tell the police everything" yet refraining from outright naming Belle as the perpetrator.

The audience is now split, some speculate that Tom might be deceitfully playing innocent with law enforcement to gain an upper hand over Belle for his own scheming purposes, while others are convinced that Belle isn't the one who plunged the weapon into his spine.

A surprising twist may be in store, with numerous viewers suspecting the 'true' assailant could be Vinny, incensed after learning of Tom's maltreatment of Belle and having developed a bond with her more recently. One social media user speculated: "Tom's going to blame Vinny!", reports Leeds Live.

Another viewer concurred, musing: "Wouldn't it be a twist if Vinny HAD attacked Tom and not Belle... and he's using that as leverage instead #Emmerdale," then postulating: "Like it was all a different dream sequence/hallucination... omg the possibilities."

Yet another theorised: "If he blames Vinny then Belle will own up."

Other viewers, however, couldn't help but notice a glaring error in the hospital scene. They highlighted that despite Tom being stabbed in the back, he was positioned on his wound while in bed.

One viewer took to Twitter, exclaiming: "And would Tom be lying on his f***in back after being attacked with a massive axe in said back?" Another echoed the sentiment, posting: "Just a minute. Tom was axed in the back, but the hospital team have him lying on it!"

A particularly irate fan commented: "I hope Tom lying on his back is hurting him like a b**ch! " while another made light of the situation: "To say he's had an axe in his back, Tom doesn't look that worse off for it."

In the same episode, Belle found herself under police scrutiny, with Lydia and Charity stepping in to vouch for her innocence, confirming she was unaware of the 'true' assailant's identity.