That’s Love For You

THE BILL
That’s Love For You: Episode 014
Thursday 22 October 2009, 21.00 to 22.00, ITV1
Repeated on ITV1 on Friday 23 October at 22:35 and ITV3 on Monday 26 October at 23:00

P.C.s Leon Taylor (Dominic Power) and Nate Roberts (Ben Richards) are driving through an estate when a car speeds past them, leaving Lily Wright (Lauren Taylor) on the ground, screaming that her baby Chelsea has been taken.

Lily tells the officers that she had secured Chelsea in the back of the car and when she turned her back for a second, someone jumped in and drove off. When the car is later found with Chelsea and the suspect missing, Inspector Smith (Alex Walkinshaw) arrives at Lily’s flat to break the news to her and Chelsea’s father, Gavin Downey (Roland Manookian), who storms out.

The suspect is soon uncovered as drug addict Danny Grant (Jude Owusu Achiaw), who is eventually found badly beaten in a squat, with no sign of Chelsea. While Danny is taken to hospital, Leon and Nate drive around the local area, desperately searching for the baby and are surprised when they spot Gavin who says he’s had an anonymous tip off that Chelsea is in a nearby alleyway.

Leon is suspicious, but heads to the alley with Gavin and Nate where they find a screaming, distressed Chelsea, still strapped into her car seat, covered in bruises. Back at the station, Danny admits to stealing the car with the aim of selling it, but swears he didn’t know Chelsea was in the back until after he’d driven away.

However, he’s genuinely stunned when the officers ask him about the multiple bruising found on Chelsea and swears that she had the bruises when he took the car...

Leon and Nate head to Gavin and Lily’s house to talk to them about Chelsea’s bruising but Gavin, furious at their apparent accusations, says that he’s taking Chelsea to the park while a nervous Lily attempts to convince to him to stay.

Once Gavin has left the flat, Leon gently asks Lily about her daughters’ injuries, but she clams up and asks them to go, leaving the officers in no doubt that Gavin is abusing Chelsea. As the case develops, evidence proves that it was Gavin who beat up Danny after working out he had stolen the car.

As Leon grows more frustrated by the lack of solid evidence concerning Gavin’s abuse against Chelsea, he decides to take matters into his own hands and arrests Gavin for the assault against Danny. However, when he finds Gavin drunk in a pub, he is horrified to find the baby on the floor of a back room, playing in broken glass. Back at the station, Smithy berates Leon for handling the situation badly, but is as determined as his officer to see justice for Chelsea...

THE BILL is a talkbackTHAMES production and a direct commission by ITV. This episode was written by Clive Dawson, directed by Reza Moradi and produced by James Hall.