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| EastEnders Linda Henry To Stand Trial For 'Racist Abuse; Linda Henry has been cleared | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 27 Nov 2014, 13:52 (3,763 Views) | |
| Ennui | 27 Nov 2014, 13:52 Post #1 |
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EastEnders actress Linda Henry is due to stand trial over allegations she hurled racially aggravated abuse during a row outside a Jamie Oliver restaurant in London. The 51-year-old, who plays barmaid Shirley Carter in the BBC soap, faces trial after pleading not guilty to a charge of racially aggravated harassment at Bexley Magistrates' Court. The charge is in connection with an incident outside Jamie's Italian in Greenwich on September 14. Henry, who has appeared in the BBC One soap since 2006, has vowed to fight 'tooth and nail' to clear her name when the case goes to court next year. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2851212/EastEnders-star-Linda-Henry-vows-fight-race-hate-claim-court.html#ixzz3KGyk9ViR |
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You can't just come bounding in here like John Wayne on a Spacehopper! | |
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| Bec | 27 Nov 2014, 13:56 Post #2 |
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I don't think she's guilty, and I hope she's proven to be innocent. Hopefully this doesn't mean the end for Shirley. The trial timing isn't great with the anniversary either. Hope she wasn't supposed to be Lucy's killer!
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| MrJames | 27 Nov 2014, 13:57 Post #3 |
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Well this is unexpected. The fact that she is adamantly denying it is enough to comfort me for now. No sweat. |
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| Ennui | 27 Nov 2014, 14:00 Post #4 |
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It's terrible timing. I don't know how much Shirley is involved in the live episodes but they start the week commencing the 16th (I think). |
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You can't just come bounding in here like John Wayne on a Spacehopper! | |
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| Shamelessness | 27 Nov 2014, 14:11 Post #5 |
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I really hope this isn't true. If it is it will be used over and over again as a reason to hate on Shirley like those comments Danny Dyer made in that lads mag are. |
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| MrJames | 27 Nov 2014, 14:30 Post #6 |
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Good heavens imagine if they have to scrap all the Shirley episodes like they did with Kevin and Ken in Corrie. Christmas is screwed. Hopefully the PR team are clever enough to bury this for the time being. Before the 'nobody supported Khali Best - Linda's situation should be the same' comments pop up - Khali never denied what he did. Linda IS denying it. There's a difference. |
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| Sey | 27 Nov 2014, 14:38 Post #7 |
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I was actually just about to post saying I severely hope she is innocent. Shirley is a horrible character but Linda is absolutely lovely and this seems verg out of character for her. However Shameslessness I don't really understand your comment. It seems like a weird confusion of actors and characters. If she is guilty then would it really bother you if people started hating her character as a side effect? Surely Linda being guilty of such a horrible and ignorant crime would be far worse? In regards to Mick, I can't speak for others but I cannot stand Dyer, he seems to have grown up a little bit but he still has a long way to go. However, I have always liked Mick as a character and aside from the Carter dominance, I would love to see him stay for years. |
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| Shamelessness | 27 Nov 2014, 14:47 Post #8 |
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What I mean is: people use things Danny Dyer did years ago to justify their hatred for the character he plays in EE, which doesn't make sense to me. I don't want to see that happening with Linda as well, especially since the clique that like to brand Dyer a thug also seem to hate the character of Shirley. Yet if it was Letitia Dean the response would be completely different. "I've met Letitia..." |
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| Jade | 27 Nov 2014, 14:59 Post #9 |
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I don't know if she is guilty or not. I really hope she isn't but I wont make libellous comments on something which is about to make a criminal trial. I hope personally she isn't. But I am not judging her right now nor the alleged victim (some are doing so on other areas of the internet some making libellious comments not wise just before a criminal trial). If she is guilty I would expect her to go and Shamelessness if it was Letitia and if she was convicted I would expect her to go too. Same if it was any character I liked Ian, Denise, Sharon etc (I proved as much in my racism post the other day). I cant speak for other people who met Letitia but I don't care who you are if your a racist its not on. In fact I am pretty disgusted you would think otherwise about anyone. I am sure people love being told how they think though. In fact I said as much on DS not to judge her. But since this is an upcoming trial I wont make judgements till she has had her day in court. If she isn't guilty I do hope she has some recourse to sue and clear her name especially the tabloids. Side note my Unpopular opinion post about racism was done a couple of days before this so is in no way linked. Since it was posted days before this was it truly was coincidental. Edited by Jade, 27 Nov 2014, 15:05.
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Your approval is neither desired nor required. Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism". | |
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| Elle | 27 Nov 2014, 15:06 Post #10 |
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I for one, hope this isn't true. It could have happened or it could be widely exaggerated, we don't know and without the full details being released, we can't judge. We can't judge her or the accuser. I would be shocked should it be true as it is the complete opposite to Linda's reputation. A lot of people may mix up Shirley and Linda and therefore automatically believe it's true although Shirley is Linda's job, she isn't her. I personally just can't believe it and she is fighting the allegations and protesting her innocence rather than not commenting at all which is good. Also it depends on the severity of what has been said, it is hard to know what you can and can't say these days. I hope it doesn't mean the end for Shirley, it would be such a loss for EE to lose Linda, I read that she is filming up until her trial date, but it looks like she may not be able feature in the live eps. Innocent until proven guilty, folks. Edited by Elle, 27 Nov 2014, 15:09.
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| Jade | 27 Nov 2014, 15:12 Post #11 |
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I agree I am not a Shirley fan but there is no way I am judging her until this comes to court. I am wondering about how this affects the live. She goes to court on Feb 11 and with the outcome unknown just 8 days till the live. Surely this means she cant be the killer now (not that I thought she was). I am sure there will be some plan in place no matter what happens. I am sure they did something like that when Tony Discipline was on trial (and that was awful lots judged him long before the trial which was thrown out by the judge). I was no Tyler fan but like most my personality is to see exactly what he was getting accused of and the evidence at trial. In his case it was weak and it was thrown out. |
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Your approval is neither desired nor required. Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism". | |
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| Elle | 27 Nov 2014, 15:37 Post #12 |
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Exactly. I have noticed that some people who aren't fans of Shirley have condemned Linda already but Linda isn't Shirley and the fact that some have 'gloated' (not on here) at the possibility of her losing her job is quite frankly, awful. When people are in the public eye, it seems that some can forget that the 'celeb' is a person too and Linda has a lot at stake at the moment. I don't think it is fair to judge when we have limited details and don't know what happened. It is not right to form an opinion when the full facts aren't known. I would imagine that she would be unable to feature in the live aspects of the show, though i'm sure they have a contingency plan depending on the outcome of the court. Considering she hasn't been suspended and is still filming, I imagine that TPTB haven't taken a lot of stock in the allegations, though it is a massive blow to Linda and to EE, regardless of the outcome. Yes, I remember that with TD, people decided he was guilty before it even went to trial which was completely unfair, and if we were in the same situation as him or Linda now, then we wouldn't appreciate being condemned before our day in court. Racism is also a mind field with regards to the law and political correctness. |
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| Jade | 27 Nov 2014, 15:51 Post #13 |
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Elle is happening on both sides sadly. Some are accusing the alleged victim of making money out this? (How since its a criminal matter also a libellous thing to say) and some are saying she is a racist. Before this thread I was posted on DS I said clearly we need not to judge her one way or another. There is no excuse for racism (I was the victim of some racist comments online) but until she makes trial I have no clue and if she is convicted its not a PC issue either its a crime. If she didn't do it I really hope she clears her name civilly and gets justice as there is no excuse to target her either. Its a serious matter and people should realise that and not post libel comments over it which is pretty stupid. Like Tyler I am no Shirley fan but to think someone would judge on this based on their characters is pretty narrow minded and stupid. I don't know what evidence they have to have charged her nor do I know the outcome. I might not be a Shirley fan but I have always said I like Linda Henry so I really hope she hasn't. So far Henry hasn't had anything like the comments I read by some about Discipline. And some might want to remember what happened in his trial did even make it to the jury to decide. If she is found guilty of course I will feel different but so far that hasn't happened. |
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Your approval is neither desired nor required. Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism". | |
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| Katie | 27 Nov 2014, 16:12 Post #14 |
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I didn't know one incident could be described legally as 'harassment', I thought harassment had to be a few incidents over a longer period of time. I don't like Shirley but I've always liked Linda, I hope she didn't do it and she'll be found not guilty. I also hope this doesn't affect the live episodes too much. |
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| Elle | 27 Nov 2014, 16:47 Post #15 |
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It is a shame, neither should be judged, we don't have all the details, we don't know what the nature of the evidence is and we don't know what the outcome will be. It's a bit muddy because with regards to 'racism', you can be charged on a relativity low amount of evidence, the world has gone 'politically correct' crazy, I was once reprimanded at work for referring to a gingerbread biscuit as a gingerbread 'man' which is apparently now, a gingerbread person and I was told my comment was considered sexist. As equally as it could be true, it could be untrue, it could exaggerated, it could have been a comment that had been taken the wrong way, it could have been something said in the heat of the moment, we don't really know and the articles don't specify. All they say is 'she is accused of using threatening or abusive words with the alleged offence being racially aggravated.' - Really, that could be anything. What tends to happen is 'celebs' are considered 'public property' and that isn't really fair. At the end of the day, it isn't our business and we can't possibly say anything either way. I hope it is untrue to be honest, It just seems completely out of character from what we know of her but I will wait for the verdict. It is not our place to condemn either of them to be honest. I'm sorry to hear that you have been the victim of racist comments btw. Edited by Elle, 28 Nov 2014, 12:34.
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| Lotty27 | 27 Nov 2014, 16:51 Post #16 |
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I really hope she is innocent of this, that isn't calling her accuser a liar, just my own thoughts and feelings as I've heard that she's a nice, quite shy woman. Who knows though, we all have 'off' days. That aside though, I'm thinking of practicalities. I bet that DTC is not a happy man today now it's been made public. He must be feeling the pressure never mind the uncertainty of whether a pivotal member of the cast is going to be convicted and if so what they then do? The writing/adjusting of future scripts must be a headache - should they even include Shirley etc. It's all up in the air and all coming to a head around the time of the live episodes. Bad timing or what? Edited by Lotty27, 27 Nov 2014, 16:52.
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| Ennui | 27 Nov 2014, 16:59 Post #17 |
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This come under the Public Order Act (rather than the Protection from Harassment Act) and can therefore be a one off incident. There doesn't need to be a 'course of conduct' (which means on at least two occasions) for public order offences. |
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You can't just come bounding in here like John Wayne on a Spacehopper! | |
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| Mrs Peel | 27 Nov 2014, 17:07 Post #18 |
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There have been two actresses in EastEnders, past and present, who, in their real lives, have been the total antithesis to the characters they play - Pam St Clement and Linda Henry. Both women, in real life, are quiet, well-spoken, articulate, quite shy and very classy ladies. I could no more imagine Linda Henry doing this than I could anyone. I believe her innocence in this, but none of us know what happened,and it's scurrilous if the accuser is using this as a fifteen-minutes-of-fame moment at the expense of someone's personal and professional life. There are so many posits in this and so many questions:- did someone take a remark made out of context, for example? The fact that Henry is fighting this is good. I think this is evidence, alone, of her innocence. As for Dyer, I'm impressed with him as Mick Carter, and I think he seems to have matured a lot since taking this sort of role. I don't think she needs to be suspended. I don't think Michael LeVell or William Roache should have been suspended from Corrie. Everyone, under the law, is innocent until proven guilty. It's unfortunate that this has come to trial, but let's let events take their course. Regarding the "I've met so-and-so" remarks, many of us on this forum have been fortunate to have met some of the actors who appear in the show, for autographs and for a few words. That doesn't mean we know them as people and friends. It's easy for an actor to be nice to anyone asking for an autograph or a photo, and it's in their interests to do so, but the actual truth of the matter is that none of us really know Letitia Dean or Linda Henry or Jessie Wallace or any of these people. Edited by Mrs Peel, 27 Nov 2014, 17:10.
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| Mrs Peel | 27 Nov 2014, 17:20 Post #19 |
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No one is saying anything about this case and no one should even speculate what happened. It's going to court now and both parties involved would have been instructed not to discuss details until the trial starts.
People constantly confuse actors with their soap characters. That's happened to Steve McFadden so much that he's actually been stabbed because people think he is as hard as the character he plays.
Actually, she's doing both. She's said as much as she can say - that she strenuously denies the allegations and that she's fighting to defend her innocence. That's all she needs to say and all she can say. The public will never know what transpired that night unless you attend the trial because transcripts are normally not made public, unless there are special circumstances. |
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| luisgarcia | 27 Nov 2014, 17:22 Post #20 |
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Good heavens. From what I know of Linda Henry, this sounds like a load of old toot. Can't imagine her behaving in such a manner. However, who knows, stranger things have happened. Most odd. |
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