What Actually Happened That Night

[Ms Bubbles]

It’s seems there are a number of accounts as to what happened on the fateful night. Here is how I “saw” it:
Starting from Henry’s defiant “no”,
Rob: Evil growl “Right, come here you little….. (Rob heads toward Henry who is on the stairs or near the bottom of the stairs. Henry is likely to running away. After his defiant “no” it is unlikely he is going to stay there and wait for Rob. Rob follows him.
Helen: screaming “no, get your hands off him, don’t touch him.” Helen believes Henry is in serious danger. She has a knife in her hand. I thought that she was behind Rob at that point as Rob had gone after Henry. She has no real way to stop him hurting Henry except the knife which he put in her hand. Of course he paid no attention to her plea to leave Henry alone. She stabs Rob to stop him going after Henry.
Helen: “sorry”
Rob: “gurgle…. Helen” At this point I imagined Helen looking down at the knife in her hand realising what she had done. She had stabbed Rob and really didn’t want to do that because she knows, if he was cranky before well….. he’s just going to explode now, but at the same time, she has protected Henry and taken back some power.
Helen: “Sorry”
Rob: “Put, put the knife down” At this point I see Rob injured but still functioning walking toward Helen trying to get the knife from her and Helen backing away.
Rob: “Helen” Still stepping toward her to try to disarm her.
Now this is the critical point. The previous stab was clearly to protect Henry but this stab is less clear.
Helen: “scream” stabby noises.

I think one of two things happened:

1. As Rob walks toward Helen trying to get the knife off her she is terrified and just wants him to stop. She won’t let go of that knife. As he lunges toward her she tries to protect herself and stop him by putting her hands out in front of herself including the hand with the knife and, in the process stabs him in the guts.
2. As Rob walks toward her she snaps just as she did when she discovered Henry was to be sent to boarding school and when she called Rob a monster earlier that evening. She knows what he will do if he gets the knife but more than that she is aware of the humiliation she has been subjected to and the unfair balance of power in their relationship that Rob has created. She wants it to stop and the only way she can think of doing that, it in that split second is to kill him.

1. Is manslaughter at worst (if he dies);
2. I think this is much more complicated. Despite the fact that she may have intended to kill him in that moment, she was in situation where she thought she had no choice.

And then all this evidence only applies if they call listeners to the stand and so far no-one has contacted me. At the moment they haven’t even established that Rob was abusive.

• This topic was modified 8 years ago by Ms Bubbles.

[Miss Mid-City]

Interesting analysis, Ms Bubbles.

I think in that split second Helen was trying to stop Rob hurting Henry.

A also agree that the evidence of Rob’s abuse is so scant it’s just not reliable. The people who can give first hand evidence about his domestic abuse are Helen and Jess – unless someone else comes forward. With Helen, I think she’d be hard to believe. And with Jess, I wonder if she would be challenged because she’s an ex-wife and might be perceived as bitter. If Rob also tells the prosecution about baby Ethan and that Jess was desperate for the child to be his, that might also undermine her. I think they’d want to show her as being a bit obsessive, possibly wanting to get back at Rob and “punish” him for leaving her and then playing with her feelings by leading her on and having sex with her after their separation. We don’t even know what Jess says he did to her beyond suggesting that he was controlling.

There are a lot of people who would think that stabbing a controlling partner is an over-reaction. People will also ask the question, “If he was so cruel and manipulative, why didn’t she just leave?” not only in relation to Helen but also in relation to Jess.

[Ms Bubbles]

She does appear to be in trouble.
But there is evidence she was leaving, half packed bag and Kirsty’s statement.
And if she was leaving, what would be her motivation for wanting to kill Rob? Maybe the prosecution will say she wanted to kill him and quickly skip the country or that she changed her mind and decided to kill him instead of leaving.
Don’t know.

Anyway, Miss Mid City, I have been wondering and maybe you can help me, if Rob were to survive and they divorce, what rights does he have with respect to access to Henry. Rob made it sound as if the step-parent thingy was the same as adoption but it that right? And do any rights only apply while he remains married to Helen?

[Miss Mid-City]

Ms Bubbles

The step-parental responsibility order that Rob has puts him in the same position as if he had adopted Henry or if Henry were his biological child. The order gives him “parental responsibility” which means “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent has in relation to his or her child”.

Rob is like any other parent (whether biological or step-parent or adopted parent) whether they remain together, end up separated or divorced.

Between the two of them they might be able to agree “access” as you put it (now known as “child arrangements”) without needing to involve lawyers. They can agree something suitable themselves about where Henry will lives, how often and when he should spend time with the parent he doesn’t live with.

If they can’t agree and mediation doesn’t work they will end up in court. It’s then up to a district judge to decide the issues – where Henry should live, how often he should see his other parent and so on. So far, Henry is in the care of his grandparents and they might also want to have a say in this. Rob has parental responsibility and thereby an automatic right to bring this kind of matter to court, whereas Pat and Tony, the grandparents, do not. Also, at the moment, the local authority are involved (there’s been talk of Children’s Services and a social worker) but as far as I’m aware they haven’t sought any court orders.

So, in answer to your questions (!), on divorce Rob has the same rights as any divorced parent with respect to access to Henry. The step-parental “thingy” (!) is pretty much the same as adoption. Under the step parental responsibility order his rights as a step parent apply even after he and Helen are not married. However, the order can come to an end by making an application for it to be discharged or when Henry reaches 18 (when he’s no longer a “child”) or if Henry dies.

It all starts to become a bit “knotty” and, as ever, I wait to see how the script writers handle it.

[Jim O’Hara]

Holy Cow, Miss Mis City, that parental order sounds like the dumbest thing Helen ever did. It was granted after she knew Rob was evil as well.

Plot prediction- Ursula and Bruce will demand that Henry come and stay with them in Blossom Hill Cottage so he can be closer to his dad during recovery. Rob recovers enough to take control of Henry while Helen is still in jail. He isolates Henry from Pat and Tony, maybe even moves away. Later, they actually will send Henry to Boarding school while Helen is in jail just to enrage her.

I think this is all possible since grandparents have no rights AFAIK.

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