ITV/Shutterstock/Comp Emmerdale Insider Share By Jade Brown Jul 31 2025 By Jade Brown Jul 31 2025 How Robert attack on John mirrors assault that landed him in prison in Emmerdale Robert saw red... again. John Sugden Robert Sugden Victoria Sugden Share By Jade Brown Jul 31 2025 By Jade Brown Jul 31 2025 Thursday’s episode of Emmerdale saw Robert Sugden lose his rag and hit John with a spanner – an incident that mirrors his previous attack on rapist Lee Posner. Since being released from prison, Robert and John Sugden have not seen eye-to-eye and have been constantly tried to score points against one another. This has escalated and the latest episode saw Robert leave John for dead. But this isn’t the first time Robert has struck out at somebody. John was left for dead (Credit: ITV) Robert attacks John in Emmerdale This week has seen Robert come dangerously close to discovering his half-brother’s crimes. It has come to his attention that Chas, Jacob and Cain have all been ‘saved’ by John – something that Robert, correctly, sees as suspicious. However, John has also been working at discrediting Robert and he finally got what he needed after planting a listening device in Robert’s living room. article continues below Read all the latest spoilers While listening in on Robert’s conversations, John discovered that Robert was the one who stole the weed from the farm. This resulted in Ray sending two intruders back to Butler’s Farm to discover if there was any more weed. This incident scared Kyle and angered Cain. John wasted no time in sharing the news with Ross, who then revealed all to everyone in the pub. With the whole village hating him, Robert was left with no one in his corner. He later bumped into John and realised he’d been the one to grass on him to Ross. A tussle ensued and John threatened Robert to stop coming after him. Robert saw red and bashed John over the head with a spanner. John was rushed to hospital, while Robert legged it. He previously attacked Lee (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Robert’s previous attack on Lee Posner Victoria Sugden met Lee Posner on a night out in 2019. Lee ended up walking Victoria home and pressured her into inviting him inside. He then raped her. Victoria reported the rape to the police, but with no physical evidence, the case against Lee was dropped. Victoria’s brother Robert was understandably furious that Lee could just carry on with his life with no repercussions. He and husband Aaron Dingle tried to get Lee to confess, but to no avail. Robert and Aaron continued a campaign against Lee, which included plastering posters of Lee, calling him a rapist, around the place. Although Lee did eventually lose his job, he was still a free man and he continued to taunt Victoria. The last straw for Robert came when Lee commented that no doesn’t always mean no. Lee also told Robert that Victoria had enjoyed it and a tussle occurred between the pair – just like with John and Robert. Following that, Lee told Robert that he’d happily do it to another woman before attempting to walk away. Again, as with John, Robert saw red and bashed him over the head with a heavy object. In Lee’s case, it was a shovel. Lee was rushed to hospital and placed in a coma, and later died from his injuries. Robert was sentenced to 14 years for the crime, though as viewers know he was recently released following an appeal. Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale? All the cast exits, arrivals and returns Share Good to Know Share By Jade Brown Jul 31 2025 By Jade Brown Jul 31 2025
