When Tom apparently attempts to take his own life in his cell before the trial, Belle is devastated at the thought that she could have been the cause of his death and her mental health begins to spiral.
The thought of facing him in court – which was totally daunting to begin with – now seems like something she can’t bear to face.
‘She doubts whether she can actually do this,’ Eden Taylor-Draper explained.
‘To stand up and face him in court and say what he has done to her – because of course he still has such power over her. Or if she does manage to face him and put all of her cards on the table and Tom manages to still get his way out of it, as she feels he does with everything, Belle isn’t sure how she would then cope and carry on with life.’
On the day of the court case, Belle leaves a note for her family and quietly leaves Wishing Well. It then becomes a race against time for the Dingles to find her as the prosecution barrister tells them that Tom will most likely go free if Belle doesn’t give her evidence against him.
This leaves Tom feeling victorious, as James Chase told us.
‘When he hears that Belle can’t be found and there is doubt about her appearing against him in court he assumes he’s home and dry and thinks he has got this in the bag,’ he said. ‘He thinks she’s not going to show, as she’s a scared little girl and her mental health has reared its head so I’m getting off scot-free. At that point he is triumphant.’
Without Belle in court, Tom would be free to portray events his own way – an approach he successfully used to persuade many people in the village that he was the innocent victim and Belle had made up the entire abuse story. Even Belle’s closest family members were taken in initially, before Belle bravely told them exactly what had been going on.
‘if she doesn’t go to court she won’t be there to testify,’ James said. ‘So he hopes he can completely manipulate the jury to an extent where he wins and gets away with everything – I think that is his aim.’
Meanwhile, as the court is assembling, Belle is ignoring her family’s attempts to contact her, as Eden Taylor-Draper told us.
