Aidan Critchley in Coronation Street was a teenage tearaway who tormented poor Ken Barlow, dated Sarah Platt, and ended up being investigated for Maxine Peacock‘s brutal murder!
What was Aidan’s story and where did he end up?
Teen troubles for Aidan Critchley in Coronation Street
Aidan was one of Ken Barlow’s students at Weatherfield High – and he made poor Ken’s life a misery!
Sarah Platt, who was herself a bit of a teen tearaway after being a very young mum to little Bethany, was smitten with Aidan.
She and Aidan started a romance, despite Gail trying to keep them apart. They got into all sorts of trouble together including going joyriding in Ken’s car!
When Aidan lost control of the car, Sarah was badly injured and was in a coma for a while. Though thankfully she recovered.
Ken loses his temper!
With tensions running high between Aidan and Ken, things reached breaking point. Aidan goaded Ken to the point where he punched Aidan and broke his nose!
Ken was suspended but things didn’t work out for Aidan either. He ended up being thrown out of home and started squatting in an empty shop owned by Sally Webster – now Sally Metcalfe.
Aidan and Richard Hillman
When Richard Hillman plotted to murder Emily Bishop, he knew he would need someone to take the blame.
Aidan was the perfect scapegoat.
On the night of the planned murder, Richard drugged Aidan and stole his clothes.
He headed off to kill Emily but things went wrong when Maxine walked in and interrupted his evil plot.
Richard killed Maxine but Emily survived.
Despite that part of killer Richard’s plan going wrong, though, the rest went perfectly. Aidan was prime suspect in poor Maxine’s murder.
Banged up!
When Aidan needed an adult to be by his side throughout his questioning, he asked his one-time enemy Ken Barlow for help.
Ken became convinced that Aidan was innocent because he’d seen him on the night of the murder when he’d been drugged by Richard and knew he’d been in no state to kill anyone.
But Ken and Sarah were the only ones who really thought Aidan was innocent. He was charged with Maxine’s murder, and sent to a young offenders’ institute while he waited to go on trial.
Eventually, events caught up with Aidan and it was proved he’d been drugged. Not long afterwards, Richard confessed and Aidan was released.
But it wasn’t a happy ending all round. Though he wanted to get his life back on track and return to school, Sarah had got together with Todd Grimshaw by then. Aww.
Aidan left Weatherfield and hasn’t returned.
Who played Aidan Critchley in Coronation Street?
Aidan was played by actor Dean Ashton. He was still at school when he landed the role.
Dean went on to play a few small roles in films and on television but according to his profile on IMDB.com, he’s not been acting since 2017.
Read more: Complete Coronation Street cast list 2023 – meet them all here!
Coronation Street usually airs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV.
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