The Chief Magistrate heard the case against Ken Barlow when he appeared in court in January 2003 charged with assaulting pupil Aidan Critchley the previous October. Ken pleaded guilty and was allowed to address the bench. Then, bowled over by the fact that he’d just found out from Tracy that Deirdre had had an affair with Dev Alahan, he made a speech accepting his guilt but bemoaning the deceit he seemed to encounter constantly from people when, he said, he spent his life trying to be honest. The Magistrate imposed a conditional discharge for a period of twelve months.