Roman's time in the Bay certainly ended with a bang! Quite literally! His exit storyline definately captured the viewers interest and the contrast between the action and emotional scenes at the end were very fitting to Roman's character. Here we relive the events leading up to his exit from the show and look at where is all went wrong for Roman.
Little did we know when Brendan fired that rock at Leah's car that he would set off a remarkable chain of events that would leave the whole of Summer Bay reeling. Following the car accident, Roman's loved ones kept a vigil by his bedside but he remained in a coma for days. Then to everyone's delight he opened his eyes, but unfortunately his problems were only just beginning. It seemed that Roman was blind but the doctors couldn't find any physical reason for this and suggested that it was psychological. Roman refused to acknowledge this and insisted that the doctors were wrong.
When Roman was discharged from hospital, his condition took its toll on not only him but his loved ones too. He was angry and irritable around the house and, despite trying to put on a brave face, continued to push his friends and family away. He also had constant nightmares and regularly woke up in an emotional and distraught state. It was clear at that point that there was something bigger than his blindness bothering him but he refused everyone's offers of help.
It was then he called on his old friend 'Gardy' to try and help overcome his problem. Roman seemed thrilled to see his his ex-Army buddy but it was clear that Gardy was not quite the positive influence that he could have been. Gardy immediately took Roman out on drunken benders and caused them both to become embroiled in a brawl in the surf club. Remarkably, despite Roman being blind, he still managed to handle himself well during the fight with a little guidance from Gardy!! Roman's closeness to Gardy soon began to drive a wedge between Roman and Nicole but it was clear that there was more to their friendship than met the eye.
During one of their drinking sessions, Roman recalled the real story behind Mark Gillen's death in Afghanistan and it emerged that the version that he'd told Mark's brother Elliott was not quite the truth. It seems that it Mark defied Roman's orders so Gardy shot him in the leg. Mark then got into a vehicle and drove towards Gardy who then fell over. Mark continued to defy Roman's orders and was about to run Gardy over when Roman took the decision to shoot him through the window of the vehicle. It was then the link to the rock through Leah's car window and the reason for Roman's blindness became clear. Roman wanted to come clean about the incident as he thought it was the guilt that was making him blind but Gardy told him that there was no point in telling the truth now as the official inquiry had cleared them.
Gardy then took it upon himself to try and help Roman regain his sight by giving him a shock to try and reverse the psychological blindness. Much to Roman's dismay, Gardy took him to a bridge and gave him a parachute telling him he was going to throw him off. Roman resisted but Gardy managed to thrown Roman over the barrier. It was luckily a very short drop to the water but Roman was furious at what Gardy had done. The incident didn't have the effect that Gardy hoped for and when they got home, Roman ordered him to get out of the house. However, he wasn't going to get rid of Gardy that easily and he hung around like a bad smell, eventually winning Roman over.
Not long after, when Roman was asleep, he had another nightmare about falling from the bridge but when he woke up this time he found that his sight had returned. Roman was thrilled, as were his family and friends, and he started to get his life back on track even making plans to return to work. However, things soon changed when Gardy returned after a few days away and continued to exert his influence over Roman. He and Roman again got drunk and the next thing Roman knew he was waking up in the back of a van with Gardy about to commit an armed robbery. Gardy said he was doing the robbery with or without him so Roman reluctantly followed him into the shop and assisted him, However, a customer suffered a heart attack so Roman had to perform CPR before making his escape from the store. Gardy told Roman the reason behind the robbery was that he owed people money and that Roman was going to help him get the cash whether he liked it or not. He said that if he didn't help him then he would tell the police what really happened in Afghanistan. Roman had no choice other than to go along with Gardy's plans.
Something else was also bothering Roman - Gardy's inappropriate behaviour towards Nicole. He told Gardy to stay away from her but found it difficult to explain to Nicole why they had to put up with Gardy staying with them. Nicole took this to mean that he was choosing Gardy over her and it drove a huge wedge between them. Things didn't improve when he told her she should go and stay with Leah for the time being.
Gardy then took Roman on a reconnaissance mission to a warehouse where he planned to commit his next robbery. Roman again told him he wasn't doing it but Gardy told him that he had to as the people he owed money to had set it up. To raise the money for the job, Gardy took Trey and his Mum hostage as she was a Bank Manager. Unfortuantely for him Nicole was hiding in the house and called Roman to help them. Roman raced to the scene and tackled Gardy. When he realised it was him he let him go and didn't tell the police who it was but when he got home was furious with Gardy. Gardy said that if he helped him with the warehouse job than he would be out of his life forever so Roman again went along with his plans.
Charlie suspected Gardy may have been involved in the home invasion so asked Roman about it who told her that Gardy couldn't have done it. When Charlie questioned Gardy he used Roman as an alibi. Meanwhile, Miles tried to get to the bottom of Gardy's hold over Roman so forced Roman to tell him the truth. He told Miles that he couldn't go to the police or Gardy would hurt Nicole. Gardy arrived and suspected Roman had told Miles so exerted pressure on Miles and insinuated that he would hurt his friends and family unless he kept his mouth shut.
Gardy decided it was time to do the warehouse robbery but Roman managed to grab his mobile phone and texted Miles to call the police. Just as Gardy and his mates were getting into position the police arrived. They managed to escape but Gardy suspected that Roman tipped them off. Roman managed to fend him off but Gardy knew Roman and Miles were in on it. Miles tried to talk Roman into going to the police but Roman told him that he had to deal with it himself. But it was too late as Gardy had read the text Roman sent and when Roman arrived home Gardy bashed him over the head. In the meantime, after Gardy threatened Jai, Miles decided to go to Charlie and told her everything he knew.
Roman then woke up in the back of van outside the warehouse with Gardy insisting they finish the job they started, but in broad daylight this time. Again Gardy used what happened in Afghanistan to make Roman comply and Roman followed Gardy into the warehouse. Roman locked the workers and security guards into a room but Gardy was annoyed he didn't shoot them. Roman pulled his gun on Gardy and a fight ensued which ended in a Mexican Standoff. Roman went to shoot Gardy but he had removed the firing pin so the gun didn't go off. Gardy's did however and he shot Roman in the shoulder. Gardy left Roman bleeding while he looked around the warehouse but when he returned Roman had disapeared. Gardy then found him and another fight broke out which ended in Roman seemingly strangling Gardy. However, Gardy soon came around and pulled another gun on Roman. It was at that point that Xavier arrived in the warehouse so Gardy took him hostage. When they got outside Gardy told Xavier to drive but Hugo told him to let him go and shot at him with a speargun. Roman then arrived and shot Gardy in the leg just as he was about to shoot at Hugo and Xavier. With Gardy lying there in pain, Hugo attended to Roman and Xavier called an ambulance. In a matter of seconds Gardy has disappeared into the river but Roman told Charlie they would never find him.
When Roman was discharged from hospital he immediately went to the police station to make a statement. He told the police everything and insisted that he didn't want to defend himself. He also told them everything that happened in Afghanistan and confessed all to his loved ones as they visited him at the police station. He said an emotional goodbye to Nicole and Aden telling him he was proud of them both before the milatary police arrived to arrest him for Mark's killing.
Following the incident the whole of Summer Bay was in shock as they couldn't believe mild mannered Roman could have done these things. Roman made Miles promise to look after Nicole and he left Summer Bay detemined that he should pay for his crimes.
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