Coronation Street star James Craven confirms soap exit after character Aaron Sandford raped Amy Barlow
James Craven has confirmed his exit from Coronation Street following his character Aaron Sandford’s emotional Weatherfield departure.
The actor character has been at the centre of a harrowing storyline after he raped Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) when she fell asleep alongside him.
Amy was too intoxicated to consent and with Aaron denying the allegations, she decided to share her story online, which in turn sparked a legal battle.
Recent scenes saw Amy write a letter to take back her allegation, after deciding the court cost’s would be too much of a financial burden.
Speaking after his departure, James explained: ‘Aaron will always care about Amy and whether he did it or not he was already starting to feel responsible for putting her through all of this in the first place, because he’s the one who took out the court case.’
Final scenes: James Craven has confirmed his exit from Coronation Street following his character Aaron Sandford’s emotional Weatherfield departure
Goodbyes: The actor character has been at the centre of a harrowing storyline after he raped Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) when she fell asleep alongside him
The actor continued: ‘He definitely feels like it’s all slipped way out of his control. Also since his dad has come back into the picture he’s felt a tremendous amount of guilt about that too because he’s not had money in the past and suddenly it was all going on this court case that Aaron was starting to think he might be fighting a losing battle with.’
Adding of Amy’s letter, he explained: ‘Obviously he wanted and needed something that was concrete and solid that would prove his innocence.
‘It wasn’t until he went to write it himself that he actually struggled to put it into words and started to realise that what he believed was the truth maybe wasn’t the truth.
Speaking of his experience working on Coronation Street, James said: ‘It’s obviously very sad, it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve really, really loved my time there. I met so many great people and I’ve made so many good friends for life.
‘But I’m excited, I’m really, really excited to get on and go on and do other things.’
Adding of the storyline, he continued: ‘I do feel very proud, from the beginning I knew how much work I was going to put into it and I knew how much work everyone at Corrie has put into it.
‘As soon as we got started I knew it was going to be a really positive storyline in the long run so it’s something that I feel very proud of.
‘It’s something that I hope the fans have enjoyed and more than anything have started to think about.’
Plot: Amy was too intoxicated to consent and with Aaron denying the allegations, she decided to share her story online, which in turn sparked a legal battle
In the wake of her rape, Amy (Elle Mulvaney) had been struggling emotionally and mentally since, with her turmoil even seeing her turn to drink and end up in hospital as a consequence.
She even went on to withdraw her allegation as she thought it would make things easier, but she continued to struggle as Aaron acted like nothing at all happened.
Steve and Tracy realised that they’d have to sell their businesses to fund the huge legal fees.
Meanwhile Eric and Aaron met up with their solicitor who warned them of the risks of taking the case to Court.
