EastEnders teen arrested for supplying drugs after hospital tragedy
Tonight's episode of EastEnders proved to be a dramatic one, with teen Denzel Danes (Jaden Ladega) being taken away in handcuffs after being arrested and accused of supplying Class C drugs.
The arrest followed yesterday's (Wednesday's) episode, in which Nugget was rushed to hospital after using performance enhancing steroids, given to him by pal Denzel. When doctors revealed that Nugget's kidneys were not responding to treatment and that he may need long-term dialysis, Denzel went to visit him and admitted to Ravi and Priya that he supplied Nugget with the drugs.
After Ravi reported him to the police, tonight's episode (Thursday) saw Denzel arrested for supplying Nugget with the drugs. After police barged in through the Danes family's front door, an officer told Kim and Howie: "We've arrested Denzel on suspicion of selling Class C controlled substances to a minor under section 18 of the Police and Evidence Act 1984. We have a right to search this property," he said.
A shocked Kim replied: "No, Denzel ain't no drug dealer. This must be a joke. You lot should be ashamed of yourselves. All this heavy-handedness for a school boy and when it comes to the big stuff, you drag it out for weeks. I'm telling you this now, you've got the wrong boy."
However, a police officer then emerged from Denzel's room with the steroids in a plastic evidence bag. At the police station, Denzel called Zack Hudson to be his adult guardian during his interview and told police: "It was just these influencers online. They did fitness stuff to help with gains and that. They never said it was illegal," he said.
When the police ask whether he gave the steroids to Nugget, Denzel responded: "Yeah but I didn't make any profit. I can show you the links I used and the DMs [direct messages] I got from these guys making out that everyone was using them and they were totally safe. Now Nugget's in hospital."
After the interview, Nugget reunited with his parents with Zach telling them: "He's being released while they talk about a juvenile caution. If everything works out and the caution is approved, he won't face anymore charges." A relieved Kim then told Denzel that he's a "silly boy" before pulling him in for a big hug.
Later on at home, Howie gave Denzel a talking-to, telling the whole family: "I'm glad to hear my son's not a drug dealer. Not stupid enough for that. But he is stupid enough to pump his body full of steroids."
When Denzel insisted that he's not going to do steroids anymore and that it's "not a problem", Howie replied: "It is a problem! We're going to hospital to get you checked out by a doctor because what you did was reckless and irresponsible."
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
