6 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 4th to 8th May

Next week on Emmerdale, Bear, Paddy and Dylan learn their fates, Mandy says an emotional goodbye, Jacob walks into Dr Todd’s trap, and Dawn plays a dangerous game.

1) The trial begins

The long-awaited trial over Ray’s (Joe Absolom) death finally gets underway next week, with Bear (Joshua Richards), Paddy (Dominic Brunt) and Dylan’s (Fred Kettle) futures all resting on how events in court unfold.

Whilst Bear is up on a murder charge, hoping to convince the jury of self-defence, Paddy and Dylan are both charged with perverting the course of justice, after removing Ray’s body from the scene and covering up Bear’s involvement for several weeks.

The hearing comes after a last-minute breakthrough this week, when Graham (Andrew Scarborough) managed to track down Simo (Steve Gidwaney)—a fellow victim of Ray and Celia’s (Jaye Griffiths) operation—and persuade him to appear as a witness for Bear, after he’d initially turned down Paddy’s plea.

His decision to appear offered the defence a crucial boost, giving Bear, Paddy and Dylan a small glimmer of renewed hope as they head into court.

As the day begins, Paddy and Dylan share a quiet moment together before leaving for court, both weighed down by what lies ahead. April (Amelia Flanagan) is also nervous about her part in proceedings, forced to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution against her own boyfriend.

Marlon (Mark Charnock) does his best to guide her through her fear, reminding her that this is her chance to explain what Ray was really like.

In court, the barristers for both sides begin setting out their arguments before the judge, jury and those watching from the public gallery.

For Bear, it is a difficult ordeal from the start, as the events surrounding Ray’s death are laid out in public and he is forced to revisit what happened at the farm.

As the prosecution builds its case, Bear is visibly unsettled by how convincingly their version of events is being presented, pushing their argument that he was an accomplice to Ray and Celia’s empire rather than a victim.

April is then called to give evidence, but the pressure of the witness box proves brutal. Under questioning, she finds it difficult to keep her composure, and is left crushed afterwards, terrified that her evidence may have done more harm than good.

Dylan later gives his account for the defence, describing how Bear stepped in when Ray threatened him and Paddy. His evidence is vital to Bear’s case, but with the prosecution determined to pick apart his account, will Dylan hold up under the strain?

Out in the corridor, April breaks down over her own testimony, convinced she has let everyone down. Marlon tries to steady her, making it clear that simply getting through it and speaking up took courage.

The final witness for the day is Simo, the lifeline the family have been clinging to. Their choice of witness is not without its risks though.

Simo’s last encounter with Bear ended badly—after a brainwashed Bear betrayed his escape plan to Ray—and there is still the question over how far Graham had to go to get Simo to agree to testify. Simo certainly didn’t look like he had entered Graham’s car voluntarily.

As Simo takes the stand and gives evidence, Bear begins to spiral.

By the time court adjourns at the end of the day, the family and solicitor Zara (Frog Stone) agree that the situation isn’t looking good. 

Despite everyone having agreed that Bear was too fragile to do so, Zara believes they now have no choice but to put Bear himself on the stand the next day.

Paddy reluctantly agrees, knowing it may be their best chance, but also knowing what it could do to his dad.

2) Can Bear save himself from prison?

The following day, Paddy and the rest of the family arrive back at court, knowing that Bear’s own evidence could decide the direction of the case.

Before he is called, Bear’s counsellor Lucy (Sally Frith) takes the stand and offers crucial context for the defence, explaining how Ray groomed Bear and left him fearing for his life.

For the family, it is a brief moment of hope, as the court hears more about the abuse Bear suffered before Ray’s death.

With his loved ones watching on, a nervous Bear then takes his place in the witness box and prepares to give his own account of what happened.

Will it make or break his case?

3) Mandy says goodbye to the salon

As Paddy continues to worry about his own future, Mandy (Lisa Riley) is hit by a crisis of her own.

With the court case still hanging over the family, Paddy is also anxious about his disciplinary hearing, knowing that the future of his job at the vets could depend on its outcome.

But Paddy soon learns that Mandy has been carrying her own worries too.

The salon has been struggling for some time, and Mandy tearfully admits to Paddy that she’s no longer sure whether it can survive.

The following day, Mandy is left heartbroken as she closes PampaManda for the final time, forced to accept that the business can no longer continue.

With both their livelihoods now under threat, can Paddy and Mandy find a way through?

4) Jacob walks into Dr Todd’s trap

Elsewhere in the village, Jacob’s (Joe-Warren Plant) nightmare with Dr Todd (Caroline Harker) reaches a new stage next week, as her campaign against him spills further into his home life.

In recent weeks, Jacob had finally taken steps to report Todd’s bullying, after her behaviour at the hospital became impossible to ignore.

When he spoke to Carol (Melanie La Barrie) in HR, she admitted there had already been several off-the-record complaints about Todd—but no-one had yet been prepared to put their name to anything official.

Jacob had seemed ready to be the person to change that, only for Todd to find a way to shut the complaint down.

Having overheard Chas (Lucy Pargeter) and Ross (Michael Parr) discussing the truth about baby Leyla’s parentage outside the hospital, Todd realised that Jacob and Sarah (Katie Hill) weren’t Leyla’s biological parents and used the secret to blackmail Charity (Emma Atkins).

Terrified of the truth coming out, Charity talked Jacob into withdrawing his complaint, leaving Todd free to keep manipulating him.

The week begins awkwardly for Jacob when he bumps into Todd in the village and finds himself on the receiving end of another pointed exchange. But Todd then turns her attention to Sarah, slyly suggesting that Jacob is eager to get back to work despite the fact they have a newborn baby at home.

Sarah is unsettled enough to confront Jacob, leaving him furious at Todd for dragging his family into her games.

Jacob later catches up with Todd in the Woolpack corridor and warns her to stop spouting lies to his wife.

But when he follows her into the ladies’ toilets, it appears he has walked straight into her trap.

As he rails at Todd over her bullying, Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) enters and is alarmed to find him there—seemingly proving Todd’s point that Jacob has become obsessed with her.

With Todd’s version of events quickly gaining ground, Vanessa later heads to the shop and angrily confronts Jacob over his behaviour. When Sarah then walks in on the pair of them at loggerheads, she demands to know what is really going on.

Backed into a corner, Jacob finally tells her everything about Todd’s campaign against him.

As Jacob tearfully admits the extent of Todd’s bullying, Sarah comforts him and promises they will face it together.

The next day, Sarah can see how much Todd’s behaviour has worn Jacob down. She urges him to stand up to her, before confronting Vanessa for believing Todd’s version of events so readily.

At work, Jacob decides to return to HR and speak to Carol again about making a formal complaint. But this time, Todd is one step ahead.

Carol reveals that Todd has already submitted a complaint against Jacob, backed up by a substantial file of evidence, including voice recordings.

With Todd a long-standing colleague and Jacob’s own previous complaint already withdrawn, Jacob fears he has no chance of being believed.

When he later tells Sarah about the fabricated evidence collated against him, she refuses to let him give up. Reminding him of the career he has always dreamed of—and the future he wants to build for Leyla—Sarah urges him to fight back.

Taking her words on board, Jacob heads over to Tug Ghyll to speak to Todd, where a dramatic scene ensues.

The following day brings a surprising development which makes Jacob wonder if his problem has now disappeared. But when Vanessa has a realisation the following day, is she going to stir things up again?

5) Dawn plays a dangerous game

Up at Home Farm, Dawn is forced to keep up her pretence, as she continues to reel from finally seeing fiancé Joe (Ned Porteous) for who he really is.

This week, Moira (Natalie J Robb) confirmed to Dawn that Joe had blackmailed Robert (Ryan Hawley) with his footage of Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) killing their brother John (Oliver Farnworth).

Dawn had known about the video, but had not realised Joe had actually used it—let alone that his actions had helped send Moira to prison and cost her and Cain (Jeff Hordley) Butlers Farm.

When Cain found Dawn with Moira, the pair were forced to tell him enough of the truth, while keeping Robert’s involvement out of it.

Joe later swore on Dawn’s life that he had nothing to do with plant the documents that led to Moira’s imprisonment, but by then Dawn knew he was lying.

Having secretly met with Cain and Moira, Dawn admitted she now hated Joe and wanted to make him pay, but was trapped between two impossible options. She couldn’t bear the thought of staying with him, but walking away would leave her with nothing.

Moira urged her to be ruthless. If Dawn wanted to protect her future and fight Joe properly, she would need to keep pretending, stay close to him and take him for everything she could.

Next week, Dawn is struggling to maintain the act as Joe remains excited about their recent pregnancy announcement. With her feelings towards him now impossible to ignore, she seeks out Moira and admits she is finding it harder to stay by Joe’s side while hiding how much she despises him.

Moira reminds her what is at stake. If Dawn is going to fight Joe for custody, she will need money behind her—and that means staying exactly where she is for now.

With that, Dawn steels herself and the plan begins in earnest.

As Joe later makes a promise, can Dawn keep playing the role long enough to bring him down?

6) Moira struggles on the eve of Cain’s surgery

Also next week, the stress is mounting for Moira as she continues to keep the truth about Robert from Cain, whilst also preparing to support Cain through his prostate cancer surgery.

On the eve of the op, Cain again admits his fears over how the operation could change their relationship physically. Moira reassures him that whatever happens, they will face it together as a team.

As they wait to see what tomorrow brings, can Moira keep holding everything together?