Before Meena, there was another killer in the village.
Shortly before killer Meena Jutla made her debut on Emmerdale, there was another villain scheming and murdering his way through the village.
Lachlan White, played by Thomas Atkinson, terrified the Dales between 2014 and 2019 before police finally caught up with him.
The son of Chrissie White (Louise Marwood) and Donny Cairn (Alan Convy), Lachlan had exhibited concerning tendencies since his childhood, but it was only after he developed obsessions with Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and Alicia Metcalfe (Natalie Anderson) that his family realised he needed help.
Upon his arrival to the village, Lachlan befriended Belle. Meanwhile, he became increasingly obsessed over Alicia, his friend Jacob’s (Joe Warren-Plant) mother, to the point that he believed his interest was reciprocated and sexually assaulted her.
His mum Chrissie called the police after hearing Alicia’s version of the events, with Lachlan being placed on the sex offenders list for two years.
Throughout his years in the village, Lachlan had multiple feuds, including two long-standing disagreements with his grandfather Lawrence White (John Bowe) and Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley), who had been cheating on his mother Chrissie.
On his 16th birthday, Lachlan broke into Home Farm and held his grandpa hostage at gunpoint. During the physical confrontation that ensued, the teen accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting Lawrence in the stomach.
Chrissie and Lachlan planted the shotgun in Robert’s brother Andy’s (Kelvin Fletcher) car, with the man being charged with attempted murder and later escaping.
Troubles continued as Lachlan was determined to get revenge on Robert and was ready to lie and tell the police that the man had sexually assaulted him. Robert’s boyfriend Aaron Dingle (Danny Webb, later played by Danny Miller) kidnapped Lachlan to keep his mouth shut, leading to a dramatic chase when the teen tried to flee.
Aaron and Robert caught up with him and forced him into the boot of their car, which was later involved in the crash that killed James Barton (Bill Ward).
In 2016, Lachlan admitted to having shot Lawrence, but lied about Chrissie’s plan to frame Andy. The teen was charged with attempted murder and perverting the course of justice as a result.
Who did Lachlan kill on Emmerdale?
!["Lachlan]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/06/lachlan-2-c381210.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Lachlan")
Growing frustrated with his family, Lachlan had a breakdown while riding in the car with Chrissie, Lawrence and Rebecca (Emily Head). He took control of the steering wheel, causing an accident that claimed the lives of Chrissie and Lawrence and seriously injured Rebecca, whose memory was affected.
A panicked Lachlan feared the truth about the crash would be revealed when his friend Gerry Roberts (Shaun Thomas) retrieved a voice message he’d sent him on the day of the accident.
He swiftly decided to get rid of Gerry, delivering a fatal blow to the head with a rock after knocking down the B&B, which was being renovated. Gerry’s death was then blamed on Doug Potts (Duncan Preston), who was found guilty of manslaughter.
Shortly afterwards, Lachlan tried to pull off another murder. He attempted to kill his brewery client Freddy (Jamie Bacon) with a rock, but was discovered by Priya Kotecha (Fiona Wade). Despite Priya insisting Lachlan was up to no good, Belle stood by him, forcing the PR consultant to quit her job for their brewery.
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Lachlan’s paranoia went through the roof when he started receiving messages hinting at the crimes he’d committed. Thinking they were from Paul Tozer (Daniel Casey), a conman who posed as Gerry’s uncle, the killer tried to cover his tracks by killing him.
When the messages continued, Lachlan realised Liv Flaherty (Isobel Steele) was behind them and tried to murder her by causing a carbon monoxide leak at her house, intoxicating her and Robert, and leaving Rebecca’s fate ambiguous.
Rebecca was then revealed to be alive, but was kidnapped by Lachlan, who was afraid his wrongdoings would be exposed. He kept her in one of the huts of the glamping site and, when the situation became unsustainable, sent her to live with a nurse, making sure she wouldn’t be let out.
What happened to Lachlan?
As the walls were closing in on him, Lachlan realised the investigation into Paul’s disappearance had turned into a murder one after Priya found the rock he’d used to kill the conman. Lachlan tried to dig up Paul’s body but was discovered by Sam Dingle (James Hooton), who he beat up and left for dead.
With little time to think, Lachlan attempted to convince a horrified Belle, who had found her brother Sam injured, to run away together.
Robert tried to help Belle, but was held hostage by Lachlan. In a wrestle for the gun, the villain managed to escape with his girlfriend, with Robert, Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell) tracking them down.
The dramatic showdown ended with a fleeing Belle being accidentally run over by Robert’s car, and Lachlan landing behind bars.
Luckily, Belle recovered, but Lachlan’s hatred for the Dingles was as intense as ever, even from prison.
In 2019, he hired his father Donny to burn down the Dingles’ home, but his plan was intercepted by Belle. She talked to Donny, making him realise his son didn’t need to be enabled further and convincing him to wear a wire to expose Lachlan’s involvement in the attacks to her family.
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