Ross Barton’s ongoing feud with Robert Sugden turns deadly after a clash with drug dealers ends with someone being stabbed. Michael Parr told Soaplife all about it…
There isn’t much that scares Ross Barton. But the crooked mechanic quickly realises that blackmailing Robert Sugden wasn’t such a great idea when he’s served a hefty helping of revenge. “Ross is keen to bring Robert down a peg or two,” Michael Parr told Soaplife. “He knows Robert can play dirty, but what he does is unexpected.”
What does Robert do? “He steals Ross’s taxi and destroys it with the scrapyard crusher! That hits him really hard and he’s not happy at all. He’s not afraid of Robert [Ryan Hawley], though. Ross thinks of himself as the village bad boy and, to him, Robert and Aaron [Danny Miller] pose little threat.”
How does Finn react to losing the taxi? “He’s angry, but he suggests they call the police. Ross then has to explain to him that he’d been blackmailing Robert. Finn [Joe Gill] can’t quite believe his brother’s been so stupid and he isn’t impressed.”
What does Ross do next? “He decides to steal Robert’s car. He thinks he can use it to blackmail Robert and Aaron into getting him a replacement taxi.”
But that doesn’t work, either… “Adam found Ross’ mobile in the back of the taxi and he gave it to Aaron and Robert. They look through Ross’ texts and turn detective. One of the texts leads them to Wylie’s Farm and, once there, they see Ross and Finn moving bags full of cannabis into their mother Emma’s car.”
What do they do? “They take the drugs. Ross turns up later and finds out that the cannabis has gone.”
What about the drug dealers who’ve been growing the plants? “Ross isn’t afraid of them. He sees this as a get-rich-quick scheme. Finn’s up for it, too.”
But then the drug dealers show up, right? “Yes, and Finn’s on his own. They demand he help them trace the drugs, but Robert and Aaron are putting it all into a wood chipper in the middle of a field. The dealers drag Finn into their car to look for Ross. They find Emma’s car and shunt it, but Emma isn’t driving it.”
Who is? “I can’t say… but the person behind the wheel is stabbed and gets rushed to hospital as the dealers flee.”
It’s not looking good for Ross, is it? “Well, he’s happy to take anyone on and he thinks he can always find a way out of trouble. But there will be some fall-out from this.”
Emmerdale, ITV
