Coronation Street's Lauren Bolton makes court blunder amid trial discovery in ITVX edition
*Warning: Major spoilers for Monday 20th January's episode available on ITVX.*
*Warning: Contains spoilers for Monday's Coronation Street episode (20th January 2025), currently available to stream on ITVX.*
Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) may have just sealed her fate during her trial for the murder of abuser Joel Deering (Calum Lill) in Coronation Street.
Struggling to leave poorly baby son Frankie, Lauren was reassured by a staff member (played by Brookside star Suzanne Collins), and left the prison's mother and baby unit for court.
Meanwhile, pregnant solicitor Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) and kindly Roy Cropper (David Neilson) prepared to give their testimonies.
On the stand, Roy gave Lauren a glowing character reference. The defence tried to twist things, reminding Roy that Lauren had failed to speak out when Roy was wrongly accused of her murder.
However, Roy turned this around, ultimately telling the court that Lauren is a good person who has been mistreated.
But ex-inmate Brie Benson (Jessica Ellis) interrupted, sporting a sling and claiming that Lauren had attacked her the previous night after making a threat to kill her.
While Brie had goaded Lauren into those words, Lauren denied ever touching the woman, and Brie was removed from court.
Watching Brie slipping up outside as she freely moved her 'injured' arm, Dee-Dee clocked her addressing Joel's father Gus (Chris Garner).
As Dee-Dee set off on a mission, Lauren learned that Frankie had been taken to hospital with a very high temperature, and she was desperate to leave the trial to see him.
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Max Turner (Paddy Bever) was questioned next on the stand, and he lost his temper as the defence brought up his and Lauren's past with the far-right group, and tried to pick apart his story.
Max managed to make it clear that Lauren had saved his life and therefore her actions were honourable, and then it was Lauren's turn to be grilled.
Lauren bravely recounted Joel's abusive behaviour and insisted that she had no choice but to hit him that night, before calling out the defence barrister for sneering over her unwell little boy.
But when he savagely reminded her of how Joel's actions nearly killed Frankie, Lauren declared that she was happy Joel was dead – and it looked like she had destroyed her chances of walking free.
Despite this blunder, the day took a brighter turn for Lauren when Dee-Dee stepped up to speak, revealing to the court that Brie had been bribed by Gus to lie about Lauren, and therefore Lauren was still being abused by men to this very day.
Dee-Dee pointed out that Gus taking such action proved he didn't believe she was guilty, and she asked why Lauren would ever have reported Joel's death when the authorities had let her down all her life.
Later, Lauren was by Frankie's side in hospital, and Max pledged to be there for them both. But as she convinced herself that she was going to prison, Lauren vowed that her son was all that mattered.
Will the jury find Lauren guilty?
Read more:
- 8 Coronation Street characters who should have a huge 2025 – from Jenny Connor to Todd Grimshaw
- Coronation Street casts ex-Hollyoaks star for Lauren prison scenes
- Coronation Street's Leanne declares war after Toyah betrayal
- Coronation Street airs major baby decision in ITVX episode
- Coronation Street spoilers as villain Rob Donovan set for steamy prison affair storyline
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Authors
Laura Denby is a Freelance Soaps writer covering all the latest news in the Dales, Cobbles and East End for Radio Times. She's a soaps nerd with a love for comedy drama, and has also written for Digital Spy, Metro UK and Yahoo UK.