Arthur lashes out at Laurel as bullying secret is revealed in Emmerdale

Conflicted Laurel has kept her son's challenging behaviour to herself for weeks but boyfriend Jai Sharma finally found out on Thursday 12th March the terrible truth - that his little boy has been the victim of Arthur's aggression.

• Emmerdale: who is leaving, returning to and joining the cast?
• 5 Emmerdale spoilers for next week: Charity betrays Vanessa, plus Cain is out of his depth
• Tension for Emmerdale’s Charity and Vanessa after cancer secret exposed- will they split?

Just as she and Jai got back on track and decided to move in together, the parents heard a crash from Mulberry Cottage where their respective offspring had been left alone together.

Rushing in to find Archie trapped beneath a toppled cabinet, Arthur insisted it was an accident but it was the final straw for guilt-wracked Laurel to come clean. Fuming Jai couldn't believe she covered for her son when their friend Jimmy King was accused of physically abusing Archie, and after almost hitting Arthur himself Laurel demanded the shaken Sharma leave.

Her relationship in tatters, Laurel refused to believe Arthur's protestations of innocence, leading to the lad turning in his own mother by declaring he wished she was dead…

"Laurel felt she should be the one to tell Jai what happened rather than put Arthur in that vulnerable position," explains Bellamy. "She feels responsible for his behaviour, she has so much guilt about it and is aghast about the situation.

"Jai is just so stunned Laurel kept this from him," she continues. "That gets to him before he even thinks about what Arthur actually did to Archie. The betrayal from Laurel seems worse than the betrayal from Arthur."

Right now it looks unlikely Laurel and Jai can come back from this, and next week Arthur's hatred of Archie grows and he's up to his old tricks again. But could there be more to this than meets the eye? Bellamy acknowledges there are muddy waters to navigate in the storyline.

"It's addressing the issue of blended families which is an interesting topic to tackle - not to mention an absolute can of worms!"

Visit our dedicated Emmerdale page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.