Now this is something I just can't agree with. Sexual assault is rightfully viewed as a very serious crime and Lachlan should have received a much harsher punishment for it. Extenuating circumstances came into play including his age, no previous offences and the fact he had been influenced by quite disturbing sites online. No excuse though, the sentencing was far too lenient.

However I think if people can get past the stigma surrounding the offence and look at it without bias they will realise that it's absurd to hold characters in contempt for committing this act while forgiving those who have killed or caused grievous bodily harm. What makes a sexual crime so much worse than a physical one? In not bashing anyone's views so feel free to disagree and debate.

Robert has killed Katie ( and then went to his wedding like nothing ever happened), he attempting to kill Paddy twice, he seriously considered shooting Aaron and he hired a hit man to murder Chas (a twist which has absurdly been forgotten and will likely never resurface) and he left Lawrence to die a few months back. Imo these crimes far outweigh what Lachlan has done.
I also understand this is becoming a slightly tiring excuse but Lachlan is still a child. People change so much when they become adults and I'm more inclined to believe Lachlan can change for the better than I'm inclined to believe Robert can who was the resident panto villain only a year ago. But again, it's becoming a tired excuse

I would not seek to argue against your point. You have your view and I have mine.

For me, and I repeat, I'm not arguing, just saying where I'm coming from, Aaron is not a black or white character; he is very flawed, but has sparks of humanity and generosity. That's why I like him.

I think there may shortly be an opening for a scriptwriter.
Watch out for it!

Ah come on, Mark, you'll get over it.

Robert can seduce Adam, and you'll have forgotten that other fella before the funeral.

BIB: Is especially excellent, I can totally picture it.


While he may occassionally face retribution from characters in the soap, he will forever be a victim in the eyes of the majority of the audience and has all of his actions excused.

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is even worse. Lachlan can kill Robert, Chrissie and Victoria. Then Aaron and Adam can hookup

My recollection is that Aaron didn't assault or rob Lizzie, though Lizzie did believe that she had been mugged, at the time. He bumped into her as he ran across the foot bridge in the dark. It was only later that he heard that he'd knocked her over, and he then went back and retrieved her bag and belongings from the brook.

With regard to the McFarlane drug running, he was picked up by the police for that and, I suspect, he was given a caution.

When Paddy caught him selling the Veterinary Surgery drugs, he chucked him out and he had to go and live at Wishing Well Cottage, with the rest of the Dingles - surely punishment enough !

The other two robberies mentioned were more in the nature of shop lifting, were they not? There was a lot of low level stuff, eg stealing the bottle of milk, stealing booze from the Woolie etc etc, but all the Emmerdale youngsters have done that sort of thing, so I would not count incidents of that nature.

It's not just retribution from characters in the soap, he has been punished by the law on at least two, possibly three, occasions and has spent time inside for something that another did. He was disciplined by Zak too, on more than one occasion....

Nope. It's my way or the highway. Get used to it.

LOL, you will have me and a huge angry mob of Robron fans to deal with then

I am going to talk specifically about Alicia here because Lachlan is who we are looking at and she is his victim.

Because it's not just about the assault on your physical person. Lachlan caused little damage to Alicia physically because she thankfully woke up before he could (I dread to think how far he would have gone had she not) which in one of those tragic twists, is the reason why he got such an unforgivably lenient sentence and why she was initially told charges could not be brought against him. Had Chrissie not come to her sense and forced him to confess he would have gotten away with it in every sense.

A physical assault leaves wounds and bruises. A victim of physical assault who reports their crime to the police or speaks about it would not be held in suspicion the way victims of sexual assault are because their wounds can be seen. Imagine what that does to a person, to have this unspeakable act done to you while you were powerless but because there is no physical evidence that it actually happened you are treated with suspicion, called a "paedophile" by your attackers mum, have your entire character brought into question "slut shamed". Told that it was your fault. Would a victim of physical assault be more or less likely to face that kind of scrutiny?

A person's sexuality is perhaps the most intimate part of who they are and we should all have control over who we do or don't share that with (in Alicia's case her husband David) Lachlan took that away from her, he destroyed her self confidence, he made her feel dirty and ashamed and it can take a person years to recover that (if indeed they ever do) Whats more he was someone she liked and trusted. The attack happened in her own home, the place she should have felt safest. And it also happened while she was asleep and entirely defenceless.

We live in a world were rape victims are asked to explain why what was done to them is "that bad" and a soap character who violated an unconscious woman is treated like a victim we should all pity and feel sorry for. And another who was brutally raped as a child is treated with contempt because (who would believe it!) being violated repeatedly by a parent during the years when you are developing and growing impacts your behaviour and emotional growth long into adulthood.

He knocked Lizzie down, rifled through her bag, then threw it in the river and left her lying there.

He was caught by Ross who immediately released him to Chas' custody.

Do you not consider shoplifting robbery or theft? Low level stuff? It's all theft, and criminal.

I suppose GBH is OK because it's not actually murder, no matter the intention.

Meh, you'll have to catch me first. And Aaron will already be jam.

I will resurrect him from the dead!

you have 1 here Robron are the best thing ED atm and they are in for the long haul you have put up with it and i hope we have Robron wedding to

Having gone back and looked at what happened, yes he did knock Lizzie down and leave her there, on the bridge, but he didn't rifle though her bag, it just fell into the river. He did return later and retrieve it and refused to accept any reward from Lizzie, though he didn't own up to having pushed her down in the first place. What is not clear to me is whether or not Aaron knew that it was Lizzie - I rather think that it was only later in the episode that he realized who it was. It was dark, and her hood was up. That said. It wasn't a nice incident and I wouldn't gloss over it.

He was caught by a PC and taken back to the Police Station. Was it not Donna who recognized him as Chas' son, and Chas was called to collect him from the station?

I do regard shoplifting as theft and I do not excuse it. However, in soap land these sorts of more minor crimes are pretty common amongst the younger generation. Aaron was no better or worse than many others, in that respect. In the real world, shop lifters are caught and fined for stealing the smallest value items.

GBH is not ok. It is a very serious crime, just not as serious as attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, or some manslaughters for that matter. I have never attempted to excuse Aaron for the warehouse assault, or bottling James. If anyone forgave Aaron for James's bottling, it was James himself.

Well I half agree with you. Aaron is the best thing to happen to Emmerdale

With Robert, Aaron lost his edge and became Roberts victim and that is why I'm anti-Robron. I agree I wedding is gonna happen soon, probably with a huge disaster following.

all this lucky making a false allgation of abuse is to get back Rob for making it up about being his dad and Aaron hears it being a lie and Aaron puts him in the car going by the spoliers whta came out today

And Robert lost his edge and became a weird boring unconvincing little Disney Prince. They have literally made each other dull as fudge.

Anyway, I'm backing out. Talk of a Robron wedding just makes me puke.

Aaron has always been the biggest hypocrite is soaps.

I love it, particularly the last line - I can just see Pearl flicking her scarf after doing that !!

See that is why we need Adam and Aaron to get together. Robert will turn evil again, Aaron will be with a guy that really loves him (and is hot AF) and Aaron will will have a new rival in Robert so we will see the return of bad boy Aaron.

Everybody wins

I should have know this would become a Robron bashing thread
The hatred on this forum is strong for them...barely anyone is even discussing some really interesting spoilers

Where does Victoria come into your fantasy - she is after all Adam's wife so has to be featured in it somewhere.