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A prison officer fetches Jay from his cell and takes him to see his solicitor. Sexually explicit pictures of Star were found on Jay’s phone and now he is being charged for child pornography. Ritchie refuses to defend him and suggests he sees a duty solicitor. He is then interviewed by two police officers. Ritchie meets with the Mitchell’s at Ronnie’s and explains what has happened; she won’t defend a paedophile. They are left in shock and Ben suggests they go to court to support Jay. 

Sharon decides to stay home with Louise. Phil refuses to help Jay and Sharon realises Phil has been drinking. She notices the empty condom packet on his living room coffee table. Phil looks at it, puzzled. Later on, Shirley finds Phil in the arches and asks for an apology. Phil assumes he slept with her and she makes it clear she turned him down. Phil is worried that he has ruined his chances for an operation by drinking. He talks to Shirley about Jay, Star and Louise. Shirley reminds him that Jay would never have approached Star if he knew her age. She tells Phil to be there for Jay like he was for Ben. Phil joins Ben and Billy at Jay’s hearing. 

Thelma arrives with her sons. Jay reluctantly pleads guilty and Phil leaves the room. Ben follows him and tells him to let Jay explain but Phil walks away. The court believes that Jay didn’t know Star’s age at the time the photos were sent and that, due to his guilty plea, a custodial sentence wouldn’t be appropriate. However, due to his admission of committing a category three offence he will be sentence to a community order of twelve months with 150 hours of unpaid work. He is also required to sign the sex offenders register which he will be on for five years. 

Jay returns to the Square with Ben and Billy. ‘Pedo’ has been spray-painted on the back gate of Phil’s house. Paul tries to diffuse the tension by joking about the poor spelling. Phil tells Jay he isn’t welcome in his house. Whilst walking past the park Jay is cornered by the Bragg boys that were at his hearing. Moments later Jay falls to the floor; beaten and bruised. He goes to the Arches where Ben urges him to call the police. He hands Jay his wages and asks him to come back to Phil’s whilst Phil is at the hospital. Jay sees the graffiti on the gate; it’s all too much. Ben sternly tells him to stop hiding as he did nothing wrong. They go to the Vic to buy a pint but Mick refuses to serve them. Jay announces to the pub that though he pleaded guilty he didn’t know she was underage. They go to Billy’s and talk about his guilty plea. Ben asks Billy to let Jay stay with him and Jay is grateful.

Denise wakes to find herself on Phil’s sofa and looks over to see Phil lying next to her, snoring. She sneaks out of the house, unseen. Denise returns home to find Patrick has returned. He hands her a note and asks her to explain what has happened. After having showered Denise and Patrick talk about Libby. Patrick says that Libby needs Denise’s support. Denise goes to No. 1 and asks Vincent to take her to the clinic. Kim is there with Libby. Vincent points out that he knows she stole a bottle of alcohol from the Albert but she says it was Phil. Denise gets to the clinic and Libby bursts into tears as Denise embraces her. Kim leaves them alone together. 

They return to the Square. Vincent spots Phil and tells him he knows he stole a bottle of whiskey. Phil can’t remember what happened and pays him for the bottle. Denise hears this and decides to keep quiet. Denise Libby and Patrick sit at the kitchen table and Libby notices that Denise’s necklace is missing. At home Phil reaches under the sofa to pick up the empty whiskey bottle. Denise’s necklace lies next to it, unobserved. The next day Denise says goodbye to Libby. Libby tells her to find something to occupy her time and heads to catch her train. Denise goes to the Mitchell’s to look for her necklace and pretends to apologise to Louise. Louise tells her to leave and Denise surreptitiously picks up the necklace from underneath the sofa and leaves. 

It is the day of the Pride of Walford Awards and Donna wonders whether Claudette will make an appearance as she is nominated for an award. Vincent tells Donna to relax, she won’t be there. Kim dresses herself up and goes to the ceremony for the free drinks. Denise meets Carmel in the Albert. They discuss the awards and Denise admits to making a huge mistake but doesn’t explain any further. She feels stuck in a rut and decides she wants to go back to school and obtain her GCSE’s.

Sonia talks to Sharon about Jay and is shocked that Bex has started having sex. Sharon has an idea. There’s underlying tension between Tina and Sonia and Tina asks what they were talking about. Later, Sonia opens the door to Honey, Sharon and Louise. They walk into Sonia’s living room where Bex is sat with Tina watching TV. Sharon has decided they should talk to the girls about sex. They discuss the photos that Star sent. Bex admits that she hasn’t really had sex yet. 

There is a knock at the door; Star has come to talk to Bex. Louise cruelly tells her no one wants her there. Tina follows Star onto the Square. They sit on a bench and Star says she only sent the photos because she didn’t want to lose Jay. Sonia comes out to tell them that she has spoken to Thelma and Star can wait at their house until she is finished in court. Tina promises to protect her from Louise and Sonia is pleasantly surprised by Tina’s management of the situation. Thelma arrives and tells them about Jay’s sentence. 

The next day Tina buys a dress from Donna’s stall for the Pride of Walford Awards. Sonia has been nominated and Tina assumes she is going as her plus-one. But as Tina shows off her new dress Sonia breaks the news that she has asked Bex to go with her. Tina tries not to show her disappointment. Later, Soph arrives on the Square and asks Tina for directions to Beales’ restaurant. Tina bumps into Mick and Shirley outside the café and tells them that things with her and Sonia are off at the moment. Ian goes to the café and Tina offers to waitress for tonight’s event so she can be there for Sonia. Tina and Soph bump into each other again and realise they are going to be working together. The night gets underway and Soph encourages Tina to have a drink. Sonia spots Tina working and is shocked to see her. Soph witnesses the frosty reception Tina receives and Tina downs another glass of champagne. 

Sonia wins her award and hides behind Tom as he collects the award for the team. Tina drunkenly takes to the stage to make a speech about Sonia. She proudly says that Sonia paid back all the money she took. Sonia storms out but Tina doesn’t realise that she has done anything wrong. Bex and Sonia return home and Bex defends Tina telling Sonia to go and talk to her. At the restaurant Tina is in the toilets crying. Soph kisses her and Tina kisses her back…

In the restaurant kitchen Kathy and Ian taste Kyle’s menu and Ian is reminded of himself at Kyle’s age. A flustered Dot bursts in; the person she has booked to host the award ceremony has pulled out. She has already paid him and he isn’t answering his phone. Later on, Ian arrives at Dot’s with an idea. He suggests Jack comperes the ceremony as it will raise his profile and it would be good to have a local person hosting the event. Dot loves the idea. 

On the day of the Awards, Ian is busy setting up the restaurant. He is stressed as he wants everything to be perfect and the temp agency call to inform him that they cannot provide him with any more staff. Soph has travelled down to London to surprise Kyle and support him. She gets in his way as he prepares the food and Ian asks if she wants to help waitress. As the ceremony starts Masood tells Ian he should be proud. Ian steps into the kitchen and Kyle thanks Ian for his support. Kyle hopes to have his own restaurant one day. Kathy finds Ian in the kitchen deep in thought. She suggests he tells everyone about Cost-Mart before they find out from someone else.