EastEnders viewers were left horrified tonight after Hunter Owen opened up about the abuse he had suffered in jail and threatened to kill himself if he returned.
Tonight, Hunter managed to sneak back into Walford, looking worse for wear after escaping prison.
The teen, played by Charlie Winter, shocked his mum after she discovered him dirty and bleeding out on the floor of her office in the club.
Mel tried to persuade her son to hand himself over to police, pleading: "How else do you think this is going to play out, realistically?"
But he snarled: "I'm not going back. If I go back, I'll cut my wrists."
Later, while she was helping clean his wounds, she noticed other burns on his leg.
"This... how? Hunter, what is this?" she asked. "You didn't get cigarette burns in a van crash. Did you report it?'
When he didn't say anything, she broke down, saying: "Why didn't you tell me?"
"They can't do nothing, they can't," he said.
When she asked why not, Hunter said: "Because your visits were the only good thing."
Hunter explained: "It's all gangs in there mum, running the place. Some of the things those kids have done... I can't go back. I'm never going back there."
Mel then agreed, vowing that she would help him escape the police.
*EastEnders airs Mondays and Fridays at 8pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One
