Rob - dead? No, no, he's, er, resting. He's just pining for the Canadian plains. As Helen is taken into custardy, discuss the Archers here.

[PseudoBadger]

24 hours for 1 thread!!

Argh why are the police being so..... glib?!

Actually I think the most likely is that Rob won't remember anything about it.

Otoh all they have to go on is Kirsty said he slapped Helen once. Whilst that's not good, it doesn't necessarily point to him being abusive.

Legally coercive control and EA has to be repeated and sustained i.e. calling someone a name once is not DV.

However hitting someone even once is. Even hitting walls or throwing things is classed as DV.

But you aren't actually allowed to stab someone reoeatedly just for being abusive. For good reason.

She does have marks on her.

I still think the police should be open minded - I'm not even sure she is innocent as small says, but to get to the bottom of something do you start with an assumed position?

The more I hear the more disappointed I am with how it's gone

Hmmm...

Knob's "man-hating dyke" comment re Kirsty.

Wonder if that's the route they'll try to go down, that H was leaving Knob for Kirsty? And that they cooked up the DA story between them?

(haven't thought this one through, just musing really)

Yes I agree with SmallLegsOrSmallEggs she is guilty. If I were on a jury I would convict her. She is clearly violent, has violent tendencies. You can still be a victim of abuse and be capable of violence in your own right, and that is Helen IMO.

"Argh why are the police being so..... glib?!"

Because they've got her bang to rights. Unpopular sentiment, I know. But she's guilty as hell. Which makes me even more angry about the whole set up.

Small - in soapland it all ends up ok. Really helpful conclusion...

iisme re. Kirsty. You're right. Helen and Kirsty's relationship has been difficult during H's time with Rob and she's been absent for a lot of that time. Which I think make things look worse for her. Rob's already convinced everyone, including Ursula, that Kirsty doesn't make Helen happy. When he recovers maybe the spotlight will turn on K and her control over Helen? She's the one who gave Helen the phone. She's the one who encouraged Helen to talk to Jess. She's had it in for him since day one. Helen's mental health is fragile. Maybe Kirsty planned the whole thing. None of this is what I think by the way. Just saying it's an alternative. Helen might even go along with that story in time given her confused, traumatised state.

SmallLegs- I have been listening to TA for 36 years more or less and I think she's guilty too. Partially mitigating circumstances for sentencing though, I agree.

So I hate the turn this SL has taken. That the abuse sufferer has actually become the guilty one. It's worse than not being helpful for those suffering abuse. Her repeated stabbings have weighted the scales too far the other way.

Stopped listening now, will find out what is happening on these threads. I just feel they missed a real opportunity here.

I wouldn't mind the police not being impartial so much, if they didn't sound like they were in a particularly bad episode of The Bill.

Also her actions on the night of the stabbing were not those of a rational person.

Marking place after 560 posts. I can't keep up!

Anyway thanks Pseudo for the new(ish) thread and Happy Birthday !

I Am struggling with how the wrist injury could have happened? They are suggesting it was the cause of the major bleeding, but As someone has already said (apologies, it was a while back) it is quite difficult to achieve this, and usually requires a cut along the arm, rather than across the wrist. So...oo how did it happen?

I think that It is very, very unlikely that Helen could have caused this accidentally, defensively, or by lashing out in fury. it requires too much precision, and it didn't sound too precise to me.

So even though it's a load of horlicks, I actually think it is slightly more credible that Rob did do it himself. Whether to drop Helen in it, or because he had an uncharacteristic moment of truth and realised the game was up - I have no idea.

There is obviously an element here of SOC trying to ratchet up the tension, given that we're two days further on and we still don't know exactly what happened. I guess at some point we have to hear Helen's side of the story, I suspect when she talks to Kirsty or Pat or Tony.

Isn't this what we've been complaining about most strongly since Sunday? THEY HAVE MADE HELEN THE CRIMINAL. Nothing that happens will change that. Even if she does get off scot-free in soap land.

Why the fuck is she saying no comment?!

What can that possibly help!?

Women's Aid tweet:

We can hear the blame of Helen by the police already. It does not bode well; victims of abuse are often disbelieved & dismissed #thearchers

Just had a thought - we heard Rob say "Give me the knife". Maybe she did?

I'm thinking that WA and Refuge should just keep out of it now.

Re one slap being abuse. But couldn't it be claimed it was self defense?

Obviously I know it wasn't.

But - if it's OK for Helen to stab Rob in self defense because he was going for her, isn't it ok for Rob to slap Helen in self defence because she was going for him?

EnglishFern: for what it's worth, my thoughts on that question are at 19.22 upthread.

Re. the slap. Helen's already told both Kirsty and, crucially, the Psychiatrist, that she attacked him, which is why he slapped her.

Didn't Rob slap her face? Surely self defence would have involved grabbing her arms or hitting them?