This article contains spoilers for tonight’s (Friday, February 6) episode of Coronation Street, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on YouTube and ITVX.
Debbie Webster’s (Sue Devaney) fate was finally revealed in tonight’s Coronation Street as she faced sentencing for her supposed role in Billy Mayhew’s death.
Billy was killed off in the dramatic Corriedale episode after being caught up in the multi-vehicle pile-up.
He had been driving a minibus full of guests home from Debbie and Ronnie Bailey’s (Vinta Morgan) wedding when he veered off the road to avoid hitting Carla Connor (Alison King).
The minibus was then struck by Carl Webster’s (Jonathan Howard) car, and the impact resulted in it colliding with the Swains’ car and catching fire.
When Billy finally managed to free himself from where he was trapped in the driver’s seat, Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) stepped in and buckled his seatbelt again, leaving the vicar trapped inside the bus as it exploded.
However, with nobody aware of what Theo had done, the police determined that the driver of Carl’s car was the person responsible for Billy’s death, and they believed that it was Debbie.
In reality, Carl was the driver, having got behind the wheel drunk and sped off with Debbie in the passenger seat.
After the collision, he put her in the driver’s seat while she was unconscious to make it look as though she was driving. He then used her dementia against her and made out that she had forgotten that they had switched places.
Debbie went along with his version of events, but recently revealed that she had known all along that he was the one responsible.
It transpired that she had been willing to take the blame because she was his biological mother, and wanted to make up for lying to him for so many years.
When the truth came out, Carl disowned Debbie, leaving her to face the consequences of his actions alone.
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Having pleaded guilty to causing Billy’s death, Debbie headed to court in today’s episode for sentencing, where she was handed jail time – though you’ll have to tune into the episode to find out how long she will spend behind bars.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t where the trauma ended for Debbie and her family.
Shortly after arriving in her cell, Debbie suffered another TIA. She has had several of these mini-strokes in the lead-up to and following her diagnosis with young-onset dementia, and they often leave her feeling disoriented and confused.
Of course, Ronnie and the rest of Debbie’s family were enormously concerned for her well-being, and even Carl showed the slightest hint of regret.
Prior to discovering that Debbie was his mum, Carl had been prepared to go to the police and tell them the truth. Could Debbie’s condition sway him back onto that path?
Or, could he expose the true culprit and leave both Debbie and himself in the clear? After all, Carl is the only other person who knows that Theo was more involved in Billy’s death than he’s let on…