EastEnders’ Vicki Fowler has been left shaken by shocking revelations as she takes the stand in Joel Marshall’s trial, as she is confronted by a previous scandal that could see the teenager walk free for his vile attack against his step-mum last year.

Vicki has been anxious about giving evidence at Joel’s trial, and after clashing with her partner Ross yet again, she sought comfort from Zack – and the pair ended up sleeping together.

In today’s episode, as Vicki immediately regretted her night of passion with Zack and snuck out of his flat. She returned home and made amends with Ross, but lied and said that she had stayed with Mark and Phil.

Meanwhile, Joel prepared for the start of his trial, and while his defence encouraged him to display some humility in court, he insisted that he wasn’t scared and he hadn’t done anything wrong.

As everyone headed to court, Vicki subtly asked Mark to back up her cover story. Zack turned up at the last minute, which led to a rather awkward taxi journey.

Tommy took the stand first and explained how he got involved with his former friend Joel, who showed him misogynistic content online. When he was accused of being as guilty as Joel, Tommy broke down and admitted he was lonely and just wanted a friend.

Outside while this was taking place, Vicki told Zack that she was with Ross, stressing that their night together was a mistake and can’t happen again.

Vicki then headed into court to give evidence and emotionally recalled how she and Ross had tried and failed to help Joel, as well as what happened when Joel brutally attacked and filmed her.

But things took a nasty turn when Joel’s defence advocate brought up Vicki’s affair with Ross and how this impacted Joel’s anger towards women.

Vicki soon realised that Joel had told the defence about their previous violent encounters, and that when they were still in Australia, she and Ross had paid the family of another of Joel’s victims £25,000 to stay quiet.

Overwhelmed by the line of questioning, Vicki broke down in tears and rushed out of the court sobbing, while Joel sat smirking at this unexpected turn of events.

Ross, Mark and Zack followed Vicki out, but Vicki refused to return to the stand, explaining that she didn’t care if the case collapsed as a result.

Is Joel really about to walk free?