Former EastEnders actress Katie Jarvis
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Former EastEnders star Katie Jarvis ‘faces court as she’s charged with assault’

Hayley Slater actress allegedly rowed with a group of women last July

Former EastEnders actress Katie Jarvis will reportedly face court after being charged with assault and racially-aggravated harassment.

The star, who played Hayley Slater in the BBC soap, was allegedly involved in a drunken brawl last year.

Katie, 29, allegedly rowed with a group of women outside a bar.

Witnesses have claimed one person was sworn at and called a “black [blank]”.

Katie Jarvis as Hayley Slater
Katie Jarvis as Hayley Slater (Credit: EastEnders YouTube)

What happened in the incident?

The alleged brawl occurred when Katie was with friends in Southend, Essex.

Footage showed drinks thrown after the row spilled out into the street.

The mother-of-two faces charges of assault by beating and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment.

In addition, she faces charges of racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.

A statement from Essex Police shared to OK! Online read: “A woman is due to appear in court in April to face charges in connection with an incident in Marine Parade, Southend last year.

“29 year-old Katie Jarvis, of South Street, Rainham was arrested.”

She will appear at Southend Magistrates’ Court on April 15.

Katie Jarvis as Hayley Slater
Katie Jarvis’ soap character had a baby with Alfie Moon (Credit: BBC EastEnders)

Katie Jarvis’ role as Hayley Slater

Her character Hayley was Kat Slater’s second cousin.

She had a baby with Kat’s husband Alfie, giving birth in a crack den.

Hayley struggled with motherhood and ran away from home several times.

Hayley kept the truth about her child’s paternity from Kat. But Stacey Slater eventually rumbled the secret.

Read more: Jake Wood plans memorial for Barbara Windsor to honour his late EastEnders co-star

Hayley eventually sided with Kat when Alfie turned nasty. She eventually pushed him down the stairs.

The shocking storyline climaxed in Hayley passing her baby over to Kat.

Katie left her BBC soap role after a year in 2019.

Katie Jarvis appeared on Victoria Derbyshire's show
She told of her humiliation over tabloid reports about her shop job (Credit: BBC iPlayer)

Katie Jarvis steps away from TV fame

She was later defended by her former co-stars after it emerged she was working in a B&M store.

Some fans mocked her for taking a ‘normal job’ after telly fame.

But Katie revealed she had quit acting to take the security guard role to support herself and her children.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: “I’ve taken a step back from acting. I’ve got a job and I’m looking after my kids.”

I woke up really embarrassed and really made to feel quite ashamed.

Read more: Lacey Turner welcomes second baby with husband Matt Kay

And in October 2019, Katie admitted she was left humiliated by the ‘job-shaming’.

She spoke about her experience on the Victoria Derbyshire Show.

Katie said she was not happy reading reports about her life in the newspapers.

She said: “See over my career I’ve done my best to try and stay away from social gatherings, get-togethers and celebrity things to keep my private life as private as possible.

Poster

“So to wake up with my kids and see myself on the front of the pages just for simply having a job in between my acting, it really did hurt me and it took a day or so for me to actually let it all digest and realise I had nothing to be ashamed about.”

However, in early 2020, Katie announced she had taken another acting job in a short film.

Katie also appeared in 2009 film Fish Tank.

Ent Daily has contacted reps for Katie for comment.

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Robert Leigh
Freelance writer

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