On 21 April 2009 he was sacked by ITV from his role as Darren Eden in
Emmerdale Farm (1972) after he pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown
Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm on a teenager by breaking his
jaw. He had played Darren Eden for six years, since the age of 13. The court gave him a 9-month suspended sentence, and ordered him to do 200 hours of community service and to pay £1000 compensation to the victim.
