Life for EastEnders favourite Jay Brown got even worse in tonight's episode (April 27) as he was placed on the sex offenders register, after pleading guilty to child grooming and child pornography charges.
Jay's problems mounted at the start of the hour-long instalment when he learned that he was facing further charges for child pornography, as incriminating pictures of 14-year old Star 'Linzi' Bragg were found during an analysis of his phone.
Jay (Jamie Borthwick) had been arrested after his relationship with underage Linzi was reported to the police by her furious mother Thelma. Jay, who's 21, was unaware of Linzi's age while they were dating, breaking up with her immediately when he realised.
However, data on Jay's phone revealed the explicit videos and pictures he had of Linzi in her underwear. It also showed that he contacted her after her age was exposed to him - an action that an unwitting Ben Mitchell was actually responsible for.
With the Mitchells' trusty lawyer Ritchie refusing to represent Jay on such unpleasant case, he was told that his only chance of immediate freedom was to plead guilty to all charges.
After pleading guilty, Jay's genuine remorse over the situation was taken into account and he learned that he wouldn't be facing a custodial sentence. Instead, he was told that he would have to complete community service and be placed on the sex offenders list for a period of five years.
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If things weren't bad enough already, Jay was later brutally beaten up by a furious relative of Linzi's.
With no support from Phil and everybody talking about him, Jay's only real ally proved to be Ben Mitchell, who begged him not to run away from his problems.
However, with the mechanic facing a very dark future, will Ben's support be enough to keep him in Walford?
EastEnders continues on Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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