Who was Craig Reed in Emmerdale?

Evil Craig Reed met a gruesome end in Emmerdale when he was crushed to death under the hooves of Kim Tate’s horse, Ice. But who...
Laura Morgan
By Laura Morgan

Evil Craig Reed met a gruesome end in Emmerdale when he was crushed to death under the hooves of Kim Tate’s horse, Ice. But who was he? Why did he come to Emmerdale? And how did he end up at the centre of one of soap’s most shocking whodunnits?

Craig’s arrival in Emmerdale

The character of Craig Reed was introduced to the audience on August 17, 2023. He was an old friend of Lydia Dingle‘s and the pair had spent time together in a children’s home.

Lydia (then known as Jenny Finn) embarked on a romance with Craig. She fell pregnant, but tragedy struck when their baby boy Toby was stillborn. Lydia gave birth alone in a bedroom and secretly buried her son’s body in woodland.

33 years later, Craig, now a CEO of a business, spotted Lydia at a jobs fair at the Hide. The former lovers reconnected and Lydia confided in Craig what had happened with Toby. She even took him to their baby’s resting place so they could grieve together.

Afterwards, Craig gave Lydia a cleaning job at his offices and offered her stepson Samson work experience. But as they started spending more time together Craig began developing an unhealthy obsession with Lydia and was convinced she felt the same.

Craig rapes Lydia

Events came a terrifying head one evening when Lydia confronted Craig at his workplace. Frightened by his advances, she told him she was leaving, but Craig refused to let her go.

When she rejected his advances once more, Craig forced himself on Lydia and raped her.

Days after the appalling attack, Lydia confronted Craig, but he insisted their sex was consensual. Craig carried on tormenting Lydia, while her friends and family grew concerned by her troubled state.

Eventually Lydia found the courage to tell husband Sam and the rest of the Dingles what had happened. With their support, she reported Craig to the police and he was arrested.

Unfortunately there wasn’t enough evidence and the case against Craig was dropped, much to Lydia’s devastation.

Craig is murdered

Weeks later, Craig was discovered dead in the middle of a field on Home Farm land. He’d be murdered. But by who?

Lydia summoned all the Dingles to The Woolpack to piece the evidence together. She interrogated each family member to find out which was responsible for ending Craig’s life.

However, as it turned out none of the Dingles were to blame. Flashbacks revealed Craig had been trampled to death by Ice after spooking the horse. Both Kim and Cain witnessed the incident, but they had made a pact to leave him to die.

Lydia found out what happened, but chose to forgive everyone involved.

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