It was a tense day on Albert Square for a number of residents in recent EastEnders scenes when Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) headed to court for his plea hearing.
Dean Wicks is currently being held after being charged with the murder of Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) on Christmas Day – though viewers will know that he is not the real culprit.
Keanu was murdered by Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) when she stabbed him with a meat thermometer in a bid to save Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) from his frenzied attack on her.
The women involved, known fondly as The Six, then hid his body beneath the cafe floor, where it was later discovered by Keanu’s own sister, Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) – but not before The Six had come up with a plan.
Desperate to make Dean pay for raping Linda and tampering with his own daughter’s medication, the women framed him for Keanu’s murder, though he has protested his innocence at every opportunity.
In more recent scenes, Bernie revealed that she was heading to court for his plea hearing – something that Linda didn’t want to hear about.
Linda has been really struggling with her guilt since the incident, and has fallen back into the grips of alcoholism as a result.
Recently, she attended an AA meeting with best friend Sharon, and it appeared as though she was on the road to recovery, though her run in with Bernie knocked her back significantly.
Before heading to court, Bernie quizzed Linda on the statement she’d given police, where she lied that she had seen Dean carrying Keanu’s body into the cafe.
Linda grew defensive and wanted to know why Bernie was so persistent, and Bernie pointed out that she wanted to see Dean pay for what he’d done, insisting that Keanu’s killer ‘deserves to rot in prison forever’.
Overcome with guilt, Linda rushed back into the Queen Vic barrel store, but managed to push away her urge to turn to drink.
Unfortunately that didn’t last long, as she later ran into Bernie once more on the way back from the court.
When Bernie revealed that Dean had pleaded not guilty, it was too much for Linda to take, and she soon hit the bottle once more.
Later, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) informed Sharon that the court case would likely be in September.
As the key witness in the case, Linda will likely have to face Dean in court and lie about the events of Christmas night.
Will she crumble under the pressure? Could the truth come spilling out?
