Home and Away confirms Holden Dwyer's death in latest Australian episode!

Home and Away has confirmed the death of Holden Dwyer in tonight’s Australian episode, after he was killed by Lacey in self defence.

Late last month, a promo for last week’s Aussie episodes confirmed that someone wouldn’t survive the week, with the victim teased as being one of Lacey (Sophea Pennington), Holden (Lach Millar) or Remi (Adam Rowland).

That death has now been confirmed as Holden Dwyer, after he was killed in self defence by Lacey.

The last two months have seen new arrival Holden develop an unhealthy obsession with Lacey after meeting her on the train to Off the Rail festival in the 2025 Home and Away Season Finale back in November.

The two bonded after the train derailed, with Lacey there when Holden learnt that his friend Isaac (Jordan Dulieu) had died in the crash.

The pair then bumped into each other a week later at Northern Districts Hospital, when Holden was receiving a checkup on his dislocated shoulder and Lacey was visiting sister Jo (Maddison Brown), who had been injured in the crash.

The pair spent the afternoon together, and despite Lacey turning Holden down when he invited her on a date – explaining that she wasn’t ready to date anyone new after the death of boyfriend Theo (Matt Evans) last year – it soon became clear that Holden wouldn’t take no for an answer.

He began coming up with more reasons to spend time with her, despite not living anywhere near Summer Bay.

He signed up for surf lessons at Manta Ray Boards, began watching Lacey from his car, and even let himself into the Beach House to prepare her dinner while she was out, eventually beginning to refer to her as his “girlfriend”.

Lacey tried to keep the concerning ordeal from her dad, worried that he was already preoccupied with Tane’s (Ethan Browne) drug charges, which were affecting his relationship with daughter Jo.

However, after Mali (Kyle Shilling) was brought in for questioning after brawling with Holden on the beach whilst trying to get him to back off, David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) finally learnt that his daughter had been dealing with a stalker whose actions were growing increasingly unhinged.

David encouraged Lacey to take out an AVO (Apprehended Violence Order) against Holden in the hopes that it would force him to back off.

However, the AVO instead hardened Holden’s resolve, as he remained determined to “fix” things with the woman he continued to deludedly view as his “girlfriend”.

After Holden broke into the Beach House for a second time, Lacey was horrified to find him waiting for her in the bathroom and called the police. Cash came across Holden a short while later and was able to place him under arrest following a short pursuit.

With the breach of his AVO, together with further charges of breaking and entering and resisting arrest, it seemed as though Lacey’s ordeal would finally be over.

But last week, Lacey and David endured an anxious wait for news on whether Holden would be granted bail for his AVO breach.

Whilst at the beach with Jo and Abigail (Hailey Pinto), Lacey briefly got up to get her sunscreen and caught sight of Holden at the top of the path leading to the Surf Club.

By the time she looked again, he was gone, and she was left wondering whether she’d simply imagined him.

After placing a call to her dad, Lacey was reassured that Holden was either still in a holding cell or in front of a very tough magistrate at that very moment, so certainly wasn’t in Summer Bay.

However, shortly after, David placed a call and learnt that Holden’s bail hearing had actually already happened that morning, and Holden had been granted bail.

David was forced to explain to his daughter that Holden would be out until his next court date, and insisted that she call Mali and cancel all her shifts.

However, Lacey was keen not to let Holden control her life, and opted to continue working – David agreed as long as she made regular check-ins with him, and he insisted that he book her a hire car and a motel room so that Holden couldn’t track her down.

The following morning, she was alerted by Alf (Ray Meagher) that one of the Manta Ray Boards’ foamies had been spotted at the northern end of the beach, and she confidently headed out to collect it.

Yet as she grappled it out of the sand, she found herself face to face with Holden.

Berating her for not turning up to his court appearance, and sarcastically mocking her for being a “very supportive girlfriend,” he menacingly told her that he’d been thinking a lot about the day of the crash, and that if they’d both died that day then they’d “be together right now”.

“It’s at that point Lacey realises that he doesn’t care about the AVO and that terrifies her,” Sophea recently told TV Week. “They’re following all the right protocols that the system has to keep her safe, yet Holden is still finding a way to find her.”

Thankfully, when Alf alerted Mali about the surfboard Lacey was heading to fetch, it set alarm bells ringing in Mali’s head, and he raced up the beach just in time to find Holden grabbing Lacey’s arm as she desperately tried to pull away.

Now knowing that Holden was still a serious risk to his daughter’s safety, David promised to organise a police guard for Lacey’s room at the Bay Motel and assured her that he’d be back to collect her from Salt as soon as he’d put out a warrant for Holden’s arrest.

However, Lacey soon decided she’d rather hide out at the motel than wait around at the Surf Club, so she opted to drive to the property with Leah, before being left alone to wait for her dad.

Unfortunately for them, Holden was hiding outside the club as the pair left, and he set off in pursuit.

One of the final scenes in Thursday’s episode in Australia saw Holden force his way into Lacey’s room at the motel, having ordered her a food delivery of a Bento box.

He took advantage of Lacey opening her door to the delivery driver, and as the driver left, he put his foot in the way of the door and forced his way in.

As Holden insisted that Lacey had been bulled into putting in the AVO, Lacey tried to grab her phone, but Holden snatched it away.

A fearful Lacey then tried to get Holden to go for a walk so they could talk, but he refused, knowing she’d simply try to run away again.

When Lacey then tried to make a break for it, Holden grabbed her and threw her back towards the bed.

We then saw Holden force himself upon Lacey, putting his hand over her mouth and telling her that he loved her.

This prompted Lacey to grab the lamp off the bedside table and swing it towards her attacker, silencing him in the midst of his confession of love.

“Things get very heated and, when it escalates, Lacey’s reaction isn’t about revenge or aggression, it’s about survival,” Sophea continued.

Tonight’s episode saw David – who had been waylaid dealing with an assault at the station and Jo’s attempts to secure Tane more time – finally arrive at the motel to check on Lacey.

Entering her room, he found her in silence, cowering on the floor of the room. As he followed Lacey’s gaze, he saw the bloodied lamp on the bed.

Getting up, he quickly spotted that Holden was lying on the other side of the room, unconscious after having been bludgeoned by the table lamp.

He checked Holden’s pulse before closing his eyes as he realised the extent of what had happened.

When Lacey asked whether Holden was alright, David was forced to shake his head – he was dead!

As tears filled Lacey’s eyes, David went back to the other side of the bed to comfort her.

The next time we saw the scene, David had alerted his colleagues, as forensic officers filled the room, pulling a white sheet over Holden’s body.

As David spoke to the detective, Lacey sat in shock in the corner of the room.

The episode then saw David explain to Lacey that he needed to arrest her and formally interview her, which couldn’t happen at the motel.

He read his daughter rights after assuring her that he’d be with her every step of the way.

“Lacey Miller, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Holden Dwyer.

“You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say could be used in evidence against you.”

As she was brought in for questioning, David explained that he couldn’t be the one to interview her, but that Constable Lombard (Shannon Ryan) would be doing so, with David waiting outside.

“Look at me, you don’t have to say or do anything if you don’t want to,” he explained. “And you can stop at any time if it gets too much.”

David then asked Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) to sit in on the questioning, telling him that it’d be a conflict of interest for him to do so himself, and that he didn’t want anyone to question protocol.

Constable Lombard then explained to Lacey that if there had been a sexual assault, she had the option to be taken to the hospital.

However, Lacey explained that it wouldn’t be necessary – there was no assault, “but he tried to.”

Cash and Lombard then began the interview, with Lacey explaining that Leah had taken her to the motel, and that she had just left when the random food delivery arrived.

She explained that she tried to fight, and that she should have let Leah stay with her until her dad arrived, but Cash assured her that “Holden wasn’t even supposed to be there,” reminding her that she had an AVO in place.

Explaining that she simply wanted it to stop, she told Cash that she “swung at him and he just dropped” – clarifying that she hit him with the lamp, but that she didn’t mean to kill him.

Later that evening, as Jo arrived to console her sister, David vented to Cash about how they’d arrived in that situation.

“We ask these women to trust us,” he told his colleague, clearly emotional. “We tell them that if they go through the court system, that if they put AVOs in place, they’ll be protected. But they’re not, because we let them down, time and time again.

“Lacey did everything she was supposed to, but she had to kill this guy to make it stop.

“Now she has to live with that for the rest of her life. Why do I bother putting on this uniform every day if I can’t even protect my own daughters?”

In tomorrow’s episode, “Lacey faces reality,” leaving her wondering whether her ordeal with Holden is finally over, or only just beginning after her arrest for murder.

Thankfully, we know that Lacey won’t be facing a jail sentence for causing Holden’s death.

Actor Sophea Pennington has been seen filming at Palm Beach on multiple occasions since today’s scenes were filmed, as recently as the last few weeks, meaning that Lacey will remain in Summer Bay as she tries to rebuild her life after her terrifying ordeal.

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Here’s the full spoilers for this week’s Home and Away episodes in Australia:

Monday 9th March (Episode 8676)

Brax and Ricky are back. David uncovers a shocking scene. Tane’s running out of time.

Tuesday 10th March (Episode 8677)

Tane makes a huge decision. Lacey faces reality. Is Brax making the right call?

Wednesday 11th March (Episode 8678)

Abigail and Mali are at odds. Tane pleads his case. Will Sonny and Dana reconnect?

Thursday 12th March (Episodes 8679)

Mackenzie protects Tane. Remi goes into surgery. Can Sonny get over himself?

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