Emmerdale has aired a dark twist after Matty Barton was beaten up in prison.

Earlier this week, Matty learned he wasn’t safe behind bars after bully Robbo discovered that he’s a trans man. His transition was accidentally revealed by Amy Wyatt when she mistook Robbo for Matty’s sympathetic cellmate Les.

Following a frightening confrontation with Robbo, Matty received even more bad news when Les revealed that he won’t be able to protect Matty for much longer because he is being released soon.

In Tuesday’s (July 9) episode, Matty was in tears as Les admitted he felt bad about leaving him alone in prison to face Robbo’s bullying.

Through tears, Matty tried to tell Les: “I’ll be alright.”

Matty later spoke to a prison guard who promised the staff would do “everything they can” to keep him safe, but with Robbo stepping up his intimidation tactics, Matty knew he was in serious trouble.

As Les was packing for his release, he urged Matty to “keep his eyes down” and “ears open”. A little later in the episode, Amy and Moira got a call from the prison telling them Matty had been hospitalised.

Amy and Moira rushed to the hospital where they found a bloodied and battered Matty with a fractured eye socket and bruised ribs.

Amy was horrified as Matty explained her mix-up with Les and Robbo, with Moira turning against her daughter-in-law for accidentally putting Matty at risk.

Moira and Amy were concerned about why Matty refused to disclose who’d attacked him. Back in the village, Moira apologised to Amy and supported her when she worried she’d “signed [Matty’s] death warrant”.

“We’ve got to do more than believe [Matty will be released], we’ve got to make it happen,” Moira vowed.

At the hospital, Matty was visited by his now-free cellmate Les and it was revealed that they’d arranged a plan to get Matty out of the prison temporarily.

Les had actually been the one to beat up Matty so he’d be hospitalised and away from Robbo. However, Matty broke down in tears when he confirmed he would be sent back to prison within the next day.

“Oh mate, I’m sorry,” Les told him, with Matty admitting: “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I asked you to do this to me. It looks like it’s all been for nothing.”