There is one character on the cobbles currently who makes my skin crawl - PC Neil Clifton.
There are several reasons why I put him forward as one of the vilest of Corrie’s villains.
1. He is a police officer. He represents the law of Britain. His hypocrisy is evil and utterly unforgiveable. In the full knowledge of Bethany’s youth and naivety,PC Neil Clifton, in order to staisfy his own depraved desires, raped Bethany.
2. He went along with the stolen camera trick and allowed Nathan to make Bethany think it was all her own fault, piling on the guilt so that Bethany felt obliged to do as Nathan asked.
3. His own depraved desires he places above everything else. He is a bent copper, who, with no sign of a conscience, threatens and bullies the most vulnerable to save his own skin. He is menacing and sinister.
4. He exploits his own position to convince Sarah and his colleagues that he’s a decent, fair-minded copper.
We can only hope that Bethany finds the courage to speak out. Bethany went as far as to tell Craig that Neil wasn’t who he, Craig, thought he was. Craig raised the subject again but this time Bethany was too afraid to say anything.
My hope is that Craig pursues his questioning of Bethany, she tells Craig the truth, and bent PC Neil Clifton faces the harshest possible punishment and is put away for a long time, his career and reputation in absolute ruins.
By Ruth Owen, twitter: @Ruth1722
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He is all of those things, Ruth, and I have one concern. Of all the characters in this storyline, Neil should be the one whose ending is the most authentic. It will be disappointing but not as serious if Nathan is pushed in the canal or if Bethany recovers ten times quicker than she should. We'll argue that it's Soapland but that doesn't apply to a police officer, who was clearly only put in this story for dramatic effect. As the writers have heaped on the evilness, we can only hope that vulnerable victims will have realised 'it's not real'. But his ending should be realistic and that means a successful case against him in court. I can see Neil might commit suicide to avoid criminal proceedings and that would be believable, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Humpty and I agree completely. Public trust in the police is paramount and the writers must restore faith. True and authentic retribution is key.
ReplyDeleteYes, a successful case in court, ending with having to serve his stretch in solitary confinement for his own protection.
ReplyDeleteIn order for this storyline to help others who have fallen prey to sexual deviants and human trafficking....PC Neil needs to be publicly shamed and ruined for his part in grooming and raping Bethany and his subsequent protection of Nathan.
ReplyDeleteI hope the Corrie producers and writers make sure that when this storyline ends both Nathan, Neil and their ban of vile animals are given a realistic consequence for their crimes.
#TeamBethany
Corrie is a rogue's gallery of villains since Richard Hillman shot up the ratings. As viewers get immune, the villains keep getting nastier. At this point characters are walking around the cobbles as mainstream (now called flawed) who would have been short-term villains in the past. Neil maybe your viiest now but another is coming down the line, make no mistake.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Anon 1308. I now struggle to remember why Mike Baldwin was considered a villain.
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