Emmerdale’s Holly Barton: Her tragic story almost eight years on from her death
Holly was Moira's daughter
Holly Barton was in Emmerdale on and off from 2009 until 2016. Today (Thursday, July 11), Moira mentioned how it will eight years since Holly died in September.
September 29, 2024 will mark the eighth year anniversary of Holly’s tragic death.
But who is Holly and how did she die in Emmerdale?
Who was Holly Barton in Emmerdale?
Holly was the daughter of Moira Dingle and John Barton. She was also the older sister of Matty and older half-sister of Adam and Isaac.
Holly was played by actress Sophie Powles.
What else has Sophie Powles been in?
Before Emmerdale Sophie appeared in Holby City and Dalziel and Pascoe.
In 2008, she played Ronnie in TV series Britannia High.
Sophie has also worked on documentaries The Salt Trail and Tictoc as a producer and associate producer.
Holly’s drug addiction
Holly got into drugs when she was a teenager at college and by age 19 she was an addict.
Holly’s friend Roz supplied her with the drugs and she ended up overdosing on a night out. However Aaron Dingle found her in time.
Later, Holly and Roz were looking after Ashley and Laurel‘s kids when Holly insisted on taking cocaine.
When the couple returned home Laurel was suspicious of her behaviour and later they found a wrap of cocaine.
Holly blamed Roz for the cocaine. But Roz was furious and told Moira and John about Holly’s drug problem.
Holly continued to struggle with addiction and eventually Moira tried to wean her off it slowly. But when John offered to take the drugs with her, Holly decided it was time she got help.
After John’s death, Alex Moss found Holly in a barn with drugs she purchased from a dealer. He managed to take them off her.
But later Cain found her unconscious at the garage with drugs beside her and took her to hospital.
When she woke up she told her family it was a one off and began to see a drugs councillor.
In 2012, she moved to London but in 2016 she decided to return to the village.
Holly’s return and relapse
Holly returned to the village and stole Cain’s car to try and pay off her drug addiction fines worth £2000.
But Cain, who was now Holly’s stepdad, soon saw Holly’s drug dealer off.
In May 2016, Holly kissed Cain and when Moira found out, she made out Cain was the one who tried it on with her.
When Cain and Moira rejected her, Holly relapsed on heroin.
This time she was found by her cousins Ross and Pete. Moira tried to send her to rehab.
How did Holly die in Emmerdale?
Eventually Holly got clean again and wanted to pursue a career in photography. She landed a job at Take A Vow and took the photos for David and Tracy‘s wedding.
She also formed a friendship with Jai Sharma which turned into a relationship and they planned to go public as a couple.
The two even attended Holly’s friend’s wedding together, where Holly was the photographer.
But after returning from her friend’s wedding Holly went to her room.
The next day, Moira went to wake her up, but she found her daughter dead and a heroin wrapper on the floor.
Her death left her family devastated.
What is Holly’s connection to Suzy?
After Suzy Merton’s arrival in the village, it was revealed she knew Leyla Cavanagh as they had been doing cocaine together.
Leyla and Suzy began working together and they had a meeting to discuss using her barn for weddings.
But when Suzy asked about using a nearby field, Moira explained that field couldn’t be used as her daughter Holly was buried there.
When Suzy spotted a picture of Holly, she realised she was Moira’s daughter and made her excuses to leave.
Later Leyla questioned Suzy and she explained that she knew Holly.
Suzy told Leyla that back in 2016 she hired Holly to be the photographer at some of the weddings she organised.
One of the weddings was on Suzy’s birthday.
Suzy was unaware that Holly was an addict and at the wedding she asked Holly if she could meet with her dealer to buy cocaine for her birthday celebrations afterwards.
Suzy gave Holly the money and Holly met Suzy’s dealer, but she bought heroin and took it.
When Suzy found out she was furious with Holly and had a go at her.
Holly went home and overdosed on the heroin she bought with Suzy’s money. However Suzy didn’t know that Holly had died that day.
After Suzy told Leyla about what happened, she looked on a memorial page for Holly and realised she died on her birthday.
Suzy pieced together that she gave Holly the money for the drugs that killed her and told Leyla.
Moira and Suzy
Eventually Moira found out that Suzy gave Holly the money for the drugs and was devastated.
Although Moira and Matty were both upset to learn about Suzy’s involvement, Moira realised that Suzy wasn’t responsible for Holly’s addiction.
At Holly’s remembrance do, Suzy asked Moira if she could pay her respects to Holly and Moira was grateful.