Undercover policeman Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) was left feeling uneasy once again in tonight’s Coronation Street (9th December), as vile gang leader Griff (Michael Condron) declared a ‘race war’ is on the way.
Spider has been tasked with infiltrating Griff’s extremist group in order to find enough evidence to bring him and co down; but it’s taking longer than he would like to get the job done. And now that impressionable youngster Max Turner (Paddy Bever) has been welcomed into the gang, the stakes are higher than ever.
Griff had run-ins with Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) this week, threatening her after she reported his racism to his boss, only for his later goading to earn him an elbow in the face from her.
Griff then used his bleeding face to his advantage by claiming on video that he was attacked by a Muslim gang.
As the ITV soap returned tonight, Griff’s injury was spotted by the locals, and Alya revealed that it was down to her. Griff chatted to Max and fellow teenage recruit Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton), lying that he was attacked by Muslim men.
Max and Lauren quizzed Griff on why, and Max continued to look troubled. But later, he impressed Griff once more by editing his footage from the night before to suit the racist agenda. Later, things got worse when Alya heard that Dev Alahan’s (Jimmi Harkishin) son Aadi (Adam Hussain) was threatened and verbally abused with hateful language by a group of boys.
Alya revealed Griff’s video and explained that she had been the one to hit out at Griff. She blamed herself for what had happened to Aadi, with the footage clearly influencing the boys – but Dev and Aadi insisted it wasn’t her fault.
As she ran a stall for Speed Daal that evening, Alya left the Alahans in charge to confront Max over the whole mess, and Max turned her accusations on her, calling a shocked Alya the real racist.
Meanwhile, at his flat, Griff told Spider that Max would make a fine ‘soldier’ for his army, and he instructed Spider to prepare for the oncoming ‘race war’.
Spider looked increasingly uncomfortable – but can he put a stop to Griff’s plans?
If you are concerned that someone you know might be being radicalised, you are not alone. There is advice and support available via www.actearly.uk. If you’ve seen or heard something that could potentially be related to terrorism, trust your instincts and report it. Your actions could save lives. Report via www.gov.uk/ACT or call 0800 789 321.
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