Emmerdale airs hope for Bear Wolf ahead of court appearance in early ITVX release

There could be some good news on the horizon for the Dingle clan in Emmerdale ahead of a dramatic week in court.

As viewers saw last month, DS Walsh (Amanda Ryan) came to the conclusion that Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) and Celia Daniels's (Jaye Griffiths) was spearheaded by a secret business partner – none other than Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards).

This is despite the fact he was enslaved on their farm and forced to undertake exhaustive labour every day for months.

Bear was the one to eventually take Ray's life in a moment of madness, something which left him incredibly guilt-ridden. Convinced that Ray was a good man, he handed himself into the police.

Paddy Dingle (Dominic Brunt) hoped that by proving that his dad wasn't of sound mind when he committed the crime would allow for a lesser sentence, and Walsh agreed that he was struggling so the CPS couldn't charge him while he was staying in a mental health institution.

However, when Bear discharged himself, he was taken back into custody.

Earlier this week, during a prison visit, Bear alerted Paddy to Simon "Simo" Clarke (Steven Gidwaney), another of Ray and Celia's slaves who was conveniently meeting with another inmate. Paddy followed him outside and urged him to speak to the police about Bear's innocence.

Simo was reluctant, having put the troubling time behind him. He didn't want to bring back the horrific memories of his time spent on the farm and jeopardise his happiness.

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In today's episode, Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) informed Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) about the unfortunate encounter with Simo and how he hoped they could find a way to finally make him provide a testimony.

Marlon knew that the biggest setback they were facing is the fact Simo wasn't his real name, and that they didn't even know where he lived to track him down. Fortunately, there's one man in the village who would easily be able to get this information - Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough).

A short while later, Graham brought Simo to the village and presented him to Paddy and Dylan. They took him to Tenant House and after a tough conversation, he agreed to testify at the trial.

Zara, Bear's solicitor, said that this would only work in their favour and could shine a new light on his innocence. The Dingles gathered for a mild celebration, with Paddy calling Bear to tell him that there was some fresh hope and he could be out of prison within days.

However, as the episode came to a close, Paddy walked outside of the house and stared around the village - clearly feeling uneasy about the week ahead - surveying everything that he could lose.

Read more:

• 4 Emmerdale spoilers for next week: Bear, Paddy and Dylan face court in emotional trial week
• Emmerdale star teases "complex year" ahead for Charity Dingle after nightmare labour in early ITVX release
• Emmerdale airs heartbreaking Moira Dingle scenes as she makes sad discovery following prison release in early ITVX release
• Emmerdale airs distressing Bear Wolf scenes as new Ray Walters theory emerges in early ITVX release

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.

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