Hollyoaks kills off Laurie Shelby in dramatic final showdown with Sinead

The villainous character escaped from prison earlier this week and tracked down abused wife Sinead Shelby (Stephanie Davis), holding her hostage in a stolen car and forcing her to go on the run with him.

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Terrified Sinead bluffed her horrid hubby and begged him to return to the village so they could fetch her daughter Hannah before they fled, but managed to raise the alarm and make a run for it into the arms of close friend Sami Maalik (Rishi Nair). Raging Laurie gave chase but at that moment he succumbed to the head injury caused by the prison van crash that enabled his breakout, and he suddenly collapsed.

Despite his abhorrent actions, Sinead kicked into nurse mode and tried to save her spouse as he lay unconscious on the ground, but by the time paramedics arrived on the scene he was declared dead.

The despicable former deputy head teacher of Hollyoaks High subjected Sinead to a cycle of sexual and psychological abuse during their tumultuous marriage, but the brave mum eventually spoke up after being raped for a second time.

Laurie’s crimes also extended to a campaign of sexual harassment and sinister manipulation of colleague Sienna Blake, and the attempted rape of his mother-in-law Diane Hutchinson which is what led to his arrest and four-year jail sentence.

The character was locked up back in June, but the show teased there would be an explosive final chapter to bring the hard-hitting storyline to a close.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Pryor, who also starred in Home and Away as Dr Nate Cooper between 2013-2017, said he believed death was a "fitting end to the character. There was no hope of retribution for him, he's a tortured and damaged individual. To go out in such dramatic fashion was great to play, and a really meaty thing as an actor to get my teeth into."

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