The long goodbye
Debbie hugs Sarah, before heading off to court. When will she be back?
Ten months after Debbie paid drug dealer Simon to ‘mess up’ Joe – an attack which, of course, went horribly wrong and led to poor
Ross being scarred with acid– it’s time for the single mum to face the consequences. Off she heads to court, knowing that she may not return home for a very long time.
‘The family encourage Debbie to stay positive,’ says Charley Webb, who plays her. ‘Faith, in particular, is trying to put a positive spin on things, and she insists that Debbie will be returning home later.
‘But Debbie knows, underneath the bravado, that they are anxious, too. Cain is especially worried; I think he feels helpless.
‘When the time comes for Debbie to leave, she is really close to tears as she hugs Sarah goodbye. She understands the enormity of it.’
As Debbie pleads her case in court, back in the village, Sarah blames Joe and Graham for her mum’s plight. Faith is taken aback by the extent of the schoolgirl’s anger, and when Sarah later goes missing, she rightly twigs where her great-granddaughter has gone – Home Farm.
Faith arrives on the scene just as Sarah is about to hurl a stone through the window. Grabbing her wrist, Faith stops her in her tracks, but when Sarah gets emotional about her mum, the gutsy granny comes up with an idea for revenge, which involves breaking into the property and causing havoc…
Before long, the jury in Debbie’s case reaches its verdict, and the troubled mum discovers where she’ll be spending Christmas. Will she be at home with her loved ones, or behind bars?