Coronation Street star defends Bobby Crawford over putting Roy Cropper in prison – as he ‘confirms’ consequences

Coronation Street fans were left horrified when Roy Cropper (David Neilson) was charged with Lauren Bolton’s (Cait Fitton) murder in recent scenes, after Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll) reported his suspicious behaviour to police.

While viewers know that Roy had deep cleaned Lauren’s flat as a favour to Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) out of the goodness of his heart, newcomer Bobby didn’t see it that way.

‘It was that thing of Bobby being new to the street and outwardly Roy has a bit of a strange manner, kind of a loner, and that’s how he appears to any stranger upon first meeting him,’ actor Jack Carroll explained in defence of his character.

‘But then you’ve got all the people on the street who know Roy and know what a lovely man he is fighting his corner, and then on the other hand you have the viewers who spent all these years with Roy and went through all the heartbreak with Hayley and built up a real bond with this character – and they can’t intervene – but they know Roy is a lovely man and they have to watch as a big misunderstanding drags his name through the mud.’

However, Bobby soon realised the error of his ways when the rest of the Coronation Street residents backed Roy’s corner.

‘I think there’s a moment where he does take on board what other members of the street have said about Roy and that kind of starts to filter in – but there’s a sense of the wheels are already in motion and what’s been done can’t be undone.

‘He’s let the cat out the bag, has Bobby a little bit, and I think that’s probably before he was in full possession of the facts. He’s not a bad person, is Bobby, but he’s quick to jump to conclusions and that’s been the big problem.’

In a bid to try and get Roy off the hook, Bobby lied to police, saying that he had seen someone leaving Lauren’s flat around the time of her disappearance.

‘I think it’s a naïve and immature attempt to right the wrong for someone who he has just subsequently found out is a nice bloke. It’s not the best way of going about it but it’s Bobby’s way of trying to rectify his mistake and unfortunately what he’s done is make things 10 times worse.’

Unfortunately for Bobby, it seems that there may be serious consequences ahead, and that his good deed for Roy may end up backfiring.

‘That is usually what happens in these situations and certainly DS Swain is not the sort of character that you want to get on the wrong side of, especially when she’s got a bee in her bonnet about something.’

Could Bobby end up spending time behind bars for his lies and make things even worse for poor Roy?