Moira Dingle’s (Natalie J Robb) future hangs in the balance in Emmerdale after she was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and modern slavery offences.
The beloved farmer was taken away by police after a search of her property turned up ID cards and passports belonging to those who were enslaved by Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) and Ray Walters (Joe Absolom).
Moira, who had been in business with Celia, professed her innocence, reiterating numerous times that she had no clue about what villainous Celia had been doing up at her farm.
As viewers know, Moira is telling the truth. Much like she did with everyone else in the village, Celia pulled the wool over her eyes.
But while Celia always intended for her to take the fall, she’s not solely responsible for Moira’s plight.
After uncovering the ID cards on Celia’s property, Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) blackmailed Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) into planting them at Moira’s.
The ruthless businessman has made no secret of the fact that he wants to get his hands on Butlers Farm as a way of growing his and Kim Tate’s (Claire King) enterprise – and he reckons that further adding to Moira’s struggles by having her face such extreme charges will leave her with no other choice but to sell up.
But ownership of her farm is the least of Moira’s worries night now, given that she is looking at a lengthy stretch behind bars if she fails to prove her innocence, with DS Walsh (Amanda Ryan) making it quite clear that she believes she’s guilty.
Will Moira lose everything – namely her freedom – as a result of scheming Joe’s latest antics? It’s certainly not looking good at the minute.
However, as is often the case in soapland, there could be a twist on the horizon, with two village legends looking like they could potentially play a role in Operation Save Moira.
Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) was quick to assure Moira that, despite her arrest and professional association with Celia, he doesn’t believe for a second that she was involved in what the police are accusing her of.
Such confirmation from upstanding member of the community Paddy, whose dad Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) was among those trafficked by Celia and Ray, could go along way in casting doubt on the case against Moira, especially if he were called in a court of law to share his opinion of the farmer.
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That’s if it even gets to court. Over at Home Farm, Kim has already started to speculate that Joe has had a hand in Moira’s arrest. Currently she doesn’t want to know the details but as the community rallies together to support Moira, will she perhaps be hit with a pang of guilt and ultimately do the right thing?
She’s already shared her thoughts on Celia’s horrific actions and offered to help Paddy in anyway she can to locate Bear so it seems she’s just as frustrated as everyone else about the depths of the deception and depravity of the crime.
Even by Kim Tate’s standards, sending Moira to prison for a heinous crime that she didn’t commit is low – so will she find herself conflicted over Joe’s actions? Will she perhaps put a stop to the plan to secure Butlers and thus prioritise Moira’s freedom above all else?
Could Kim and Paddy play instrumental in saving Moira?
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 or stream from 7am on ITVX and YouTube.
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