Soapboxtv

Five of the most dramatic court cases in soap

Emmerdale’s Debbie Dingle’s looking at a future behind bars as she heads off to court next week. While she’s facing up to the consequences of her actions, we passed the time thinking about the best soap trials.

Coronation Street: Tracy Barlow

After Charlie Stubbs cheated on her with Maria, Tracy set him up as a violent abuser. And then she killed him. But the jury saw through her stories and sent her down – at least for a little while.

Coronation Street: Peter Barlow

Peter’s torrid affair with Tina McIntyre was a mistake (a big mistake). But though cheating on new wife Carla on their wedding day was pretty low, Peter was innocent of Tina’s murder. He was still found guilty though – until Carla discovered the truth about her murderous brother Rob Donovan.

EastEnders: Little Mo Morgan

Mo Morgan (nee Slater) had a terrible time at the hands of abusive husband Trevor. He beat her and raped her and generally made her life a misery. So it was no surprise when she fought back. But she was put on trial for attempted murder. She was released when Trevor did a deal with her family.

Hollyoaks: Pete Buchanan

Charming, funny Pete was hiding a dark secret – he’d sexually assaulted Porsche McQueen, abused her sister Celine, and groomed and raped their little sister, Cleo. Mum Reenie was engaged to Pete and in the dark about his antics, until Harry Thompson revealed all on their wedding day. When Pete took the stand, Cleo bravely gave evidence against him and he was jailed.

Emmerdale: DI Bails

Charity Dingle’s prickly personality was suddenly easier to understand when she revealed all about the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of evil police officer DI Bails. After being reunited with son Ryan, Charity decided to take to the stand and tell everyone the truth about what he did. Now DI Bails is behind bars, and Charity’s – slightly – less prickly.

Coronation Street: Deirdre Rachid

Deirdre’s trial was so legendary that then Prime Minister Tony Blair even told his home secretary Jack Straw to intervene and ‘free the Weatherfield one’. She’d been sent down after getting involved with con man Jon Lindsey but eventually walked free when another of his victims came forward.