Emmerdale spoilers: Desperate April Windsor begs Gus Malcolms as Rhona Goskirk’s life hangs in the balance

Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) faces a worrying time in Emmerdale as her court case on the charge of kidnapping baby Ivy looms.

Although she was legally in the wrong for taking Ivy, because she has no legal claim to the child, Rhona acted out of love for Ivy and the bond she feels with her. While she may not legally be her daughter, Rhona feels that Ivy is biologically hers as she came from an embryo that Rhona and her former husband Gus (Alan McKenna) had frozen during their marriage.

So the thought of pleading guilty to kidnap doesn’t feel right to her. Even though it could lead to a lighter sentence, it would lead to the loss of her career and she can’t face the idea of branding herself a criminal. So Rhona tells Marlon (Mark Charnock) and Mary (Louise Jameson) that she’s going to plead not guilty and will argue her case in a trial.

Other members of the family have been affected by what’s been going on, too, with April (Amelia Flanagan) angry at her step-mum for putting her obsession with Ivy ahead of her concern for April and Leo (Harvey Rogerson).

April is desperate to save Rhona from prison

So April decides to take some decisive action in upcoming episodes and heads off on her own to talk to Gus.

‘It’s a brave move on her part,’ Alan McKenna told us, revealing that April’s pleading gets through to Gus in a way nobody else’s has.

‘She’s still a young girl who reveals herself to be quite vulnerable actually, and that tugs at him more than anything else has so far I think. She says things that really touch him about her own story and how she grew up, brings that all round to how Ivy might react in the future in her situation if she finds out certain things. I think it gets him thinking a lot about what he’s doing now could impact his relationship with his daughter further down the line.’

But when April accidentally reveals that Rhona plans to make a not guilty plea, Gus is furious. He takes April back home, and there’s a scuffle with Marlon when Rhona tries to see Ivy. Gus is injured in the fight and refuses to listen to Marlon’s apology.

In the middle of this, April runs off – devastated that the grown-ups can’t act like grown-ups.

But it looks like April’s intervention might have worked when Gus comes up with a compromise plan that could rescue the entire situation.

Will Rhona agree?