Daddy CRUEL
Damon attacks Jacob and forces him to leave the cobbles
Jacob’s come a long way since he was grooming Simon into his drug gang. These days, it would come as little surprise if he chased a robber down the street while carrying Rita’s shopping bags, straight off the back of doing a shift at the local charity shop.
Dad Damon isn’t a big fan of Jacob 2.0, though. He wants his son peddling drugs for him, and when Jacob doesn’t play ball, he gets brutal.
Having previously worked at the factory, Jacob’s now on the payroll at the Bistro, where Damon has a stake.
As the week kicks off, his dodgy dad persuades Leanne to change suppliers, insisting that his pal Dan can do her a better deal.
Naturally, this isn’t about profit margins. Damon reveals to Jacob that hidden in the first delivery will be a package of drugs.
‘Jacob’s devastated, but everything happens really quickly,’ says Jack James Ryan, who plays him.
‘There isn’t a way out of this, and in a weird way, he wants to protect his dad.’
With Damon piling on threats, Jacob follows orders, and braces himself to receive a crate of olive oil containing added ‘extras’.
But he’s panic-stricken when a bunch of coppers, including Craig, arrive at the restaurant for a retirement bash… complete with a sniffer dog in tow. What are the chances?
Grabbing the package, Jacob scarpers, but the clever canine can smell remnants of drugs in the crate, and starts barking. Craig then heads to Jacob’s flat… Has he twigged what’s going on?
Damon’s fuming when he later learns his son has messed up. Confronting him in the ginnel, he beats him up and orders him to go on the run; threatening Amy’s life if he doesn’t comply.
Jacob agrees to disappear and, after warning Nick of his dad’s sideline, he fakes a phone call, designed to make Amy think he’s dealing again.
Jack adds, ‘He adores Amy, and this is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.’
Will smitten Amy kick him out… Or will she be savvy enough to smell a rat?
‘THERE ISN’T A WAY OUT’