‘EastEnders’ bosses have defended the soap after police chiefs issued a warning to the public advising against becoming child abuse activists, as a result of one of the show’s current storylines.
Mick Carter’s (Danny Dyer) pal Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) was recently revealed to be a paedophile-hunter, who spends his time tracking down sex offenders, but soap bosses have insisted they are not attempting to "glamorise predator hunting" by introducing the plot.
An ‘EastEnders’ spokesperson said: "At no point is ‘EastEnders’ encouraging or glamorising predator hunting."
But Stuart looks set to land himself in hot water in the coming weeks as there will be "extremely negative consequences" of his actions.
The spokesperson added: "In fact, viewers will see the extremely negative consequences of Stuart’s actions this week."
This comes after the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) pleaded with people not to copy Stuart’s actions.
A spokesperson for the NPCC told The Sun Online: "We understand the desire to protect children.
"But any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police so we can investigate and bring people to justice.
"Online child abuse activists are taking risks they don’t understand and can undermine police investigations.
"Most importantly, unlike our officers, they have no way of safeguarding child victims."
Last month, Tony Clay – who plays Stuart’s brother Callum ‘Halfway’ Highway – hinted that Stuart has a "dark" side to him.
He said: "Stuart’s brilliant, the character is quite dark but really interesting and it’s a really lovely dynamic between Stuart and Halfway. And we get a look into what makes Halfway who he is through his brother with the darker sides of Stuart as well.
"Ricky does such an amazing job, just to come in and make an impact like he has, I think viewers are going to love him."
EastEnders bosses defend Stuart Highway storyline
