Haha Rob's gonna be pooing jnto a bag for the foreseeable.
Hope it's permanent and that it will explode all over him as often as possible.

The senior Titcheners are just loathsome! Ursula was bad enough, but Bruce is unspeakable. Listening to them, I almost started to feel sorry for Rob. With parents like that, it's no wonder he turned into a psychopathic control freak.

And Susan Carter needs her mouth sewn up.

Things are looking bleak for Helen, but it can't end badly for her, surely?

What's been revealed tonight is that Bruce is actually the driving force. Did you hear the way he ordered Ursula, and she meekly obliged. Perhaps she has also been so controlled she has become little more than a mouthpiece or marionette?

Still a vile old bag though. She'll have a job of work now, changing Rob's nappies
At least she's done it before


As mentioned upthread, Henry's testimony will be key. He has probably observed and absorbed more than anyone knows, and will incriminate Rob.

Very cleverly the writers haven't let us hear what Rob is like with Henry in private. We have no idea what him teaching Henry the meaning of 'obedient' is for instance. I think we're all going to be horrified when he reveals it.

Precisely. Hope it destroys Rob.
On the other hand, what if he's brainwashed Henry into falsehoods about Helen.

Hope the FPU officers will get to the truth.

That sounds worrying: Not only *two* stabs to the body but slashed wrists as well which on the face of it sounds pretty damming as to Helen's intent once Rob had pulled the emotional trigger.

Slashed wrists could be defensive wounds if he tried to protect himslef from the knife.

My apologies.


Oooops

I couldn't help feeling that Rob got what he deserved, but I also have a feeling Ursula knows more than she is letting on especially after the way Bruce spoke to her. I don't think she actually wanted to tell the police about the threat Helen made. Can she see history repeating itself I wonder?

It will be interesting to hear what Rob has to say once he's interviewed.

I'm also hoping that Stefan comes back to seal Rob's fate.

Poetic justice. What Rob was doing to Helen he will now do in a bag.

Why isn't she co-operating ffs??

The 'no-comment' stategy seems to have resulted in a 'threat to kill' confession.

It would seem that Jess is her only hope now.

This is really puzzling me too. It gives the impression of guilt. I don't know why her solicitor has advised her to go down this route. It's a perfect time for her to give her side of the story and explain exactly what happened on Sunday, plus the fact that he's raped her in the past.

It will be interesting to know what Henry said.

It would be ironic if her only hope was the woman whose husband she stole.

I can't see Helen getting sent down for this or Rob getting away with everything he's done but the script writers will drag this out for a while yet, I fear

If I were an abused wife and so desperate that I felt I could kill my partner ,afterhearing what Helen is going through, I would in and bare it.
The way she is being treated is very upsetting, would a heavily pregnant woman really go through what she is?
Has a Doctor seen her,?. She has not been shown any kindness or compassion, or allowed a family member to see her.
I have hated this story line from the start, I think it will be a very long time before The Archers gets back to a normal programme and before I start listening again.

I think the solicitor is concerned that Helen will get very upset if she starts answering the detective's questions and could have her words twisted.

Hasn't done much good tho has it - she's being hauled in front of he magistrates now.

O/h is a lawyer (of the sleepy 'wills and probate' variety rather than criminal law, but he knows the basics) and he says it is very unrealistic. Her counsel would have got the whole story from her and immediately set about getting the narrative out re.
- the coercive control
- the rape
- the physical abuse

The police officers, while harsh and tactless, have given her ample opportunities and even asked her leading questions re. Rob's behaviour.

Of course it's unrealistic, it's a soap and one that's still controlled by Mr Eastenders.

The latest turn of events have been designed to ramp up the tension and get people angry.

It'll end with Helen exonerated and Rob sent away in disgust. After all, they have been patting themselves on the back about how their storyline has seen more abused women ring domestic abuse hotlines so they won't throw all their good work away by locking up an innocent woman.

I don't understand why she is being kept in custody though. Surely they could release her on bail with a condition that she wasn't to talk to any potential witnesses. In her condition it seems ridiculous to keep her incarcerated.

Well, she did stab someone twice and is just saying "no comment" rather than explaining what happened.

Without any evidence to the "I was abused" line of events it's hard to see how the police could do anything other than charge her.

It is annoying for us the listeners and also scary for those wanting to report abuse but sadly it is realistic.
The police are investigating a potential murder ànd not a victim of àbuse.

She hasn't even got counsel appointed yet - this is just her solicitor. Counsel won't be appointed until much further down the line.

I can get why he's advised no comment initially. Helen is in a dreadful state, she is desperate to get to see her child and is therefore unlikely to be able to give considered answers to questioning.

A self-defence defence won't work because her response was disproportionate to the threat (knife v unarmed man who hadn't actually hit her at that stage). She will have to rely on the "battered woman syndrome" defence, which is much more complex. For that to succeed, a lot of history has to be established to explain the sudden loss of control arising from a long period of abuse.

If she responded to questioning when she's in such a state, there'd be a very real risk that she'd say something that would undermine that defence, and snooker herself.

I wonder if she'll get bail? And I bet social services won't want her looking after Henry if she does.

Allegedly!!

Rob handed Helen the knife, so his fingerprints should be on there too. Granted, it was a household knife but fingerprint technology should be able to discriminate betweeen 'old' fingerprings and most recent?