Soap torture complaints rejected

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Scenes of bullying and torture in ITV soap Coronation Street have been cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom after more than 30 viewers complained.

An episode shown last October featured womanising builder Charlie Stubbs tying up teenager David Platt and forcing his head under water.

Ofcom received 31 complaints saying such scenes were unacceptable before the watershed and might be imitated.

But Ofcom decided the scene was "editorially justified".

ITV1 insisted the audience knew that Charlie, played by Bill Ward, was a womanising bully and were prepared for the confrontation.

'Some risk'

The broadcaster said the words "Charlie has a nasty surprise for David" before the programme hinted at what was to come.

The episode had Charlie luring David, played by Jack Shepherd, into a flat to exact revenge for weeks of taunting over an affair.

Ofcom said: "Even if there were some risk of imitation, we believe that the scenes were editorially justified by the plot development, the characters involved and the manner in which it was edited."

But it added that the broadcaster could have given more warning about the violent content before the episode was aired.