Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry)’s desperate decision to flee Emmerdale with baby Ivy continues to have repercussions in coming episodes, as her other children, Leo (Harvey Rogerson) and April (Amelia Flanagan), are badly affected by her actions.
After hearing that Gus (Alan McKenna) was planning on taking Ivy to live with her grandparents in France, Rhona was distraught. She’d built up a bond with Ivy and knew she couldn’t bear not to see her biological daughter every day.
Acting on instinct rather than rational thought she packed up Ivy’s things and fled, not telling Marlon (Mark Charnock) or Mary (Louise Jameson) where she was going.
The only person she contacted was her friend Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick), who made the journey from Canada to see her.
It was Vanessa who got in touch with Mary, but just as Marlon had persuaded Rhona to return to the village, Gus arrived with the police. Rhona was arrested for kidnapping Ivy and was later officially charged.
In episodes to come, Rhona is on bail and she and Marlon seek out legal advice from Ethan (Emile John).
They plan to apply for parental rights over Ivy, and Ethan suggests they need to tell Gus. He also drops the bombshell that Rhona’s best chance of getting a more lenient sentence is to plead guilty.
Still reeling from that news, Marlon is shocked to get a call from Leo’s school.
The boy has been involved in a fight and Marlon and Leo’s dad Paddy (Dominic Brunt) go to pick him up.
Marlon is convinced that Leo’s behaviour is all because of how unsettled things are at home as a result of Rhona’s actions and it seems this is confirmed when Leo says he wants to spend time with Paddy rather than go home to Rhona.
When April arrives home and finds her brother isn’t there, she’s angry to think that Leo’s life has been disrupted because of Rhona’s preoccupation with Ivy.
April knows exactly who she blames for the situation.
She feels that Rhona abandoned her and Leo to put Ivy first and tells Rhona in no uncertain terms that her selfish actions have caused huge upset to her, to Leo and the rest of the family.
