Cain Dingle

Cain Dingle is the illegitimate son of Zak Dingle and his sister-in-law Faith. Cain is the local hardman and has bullied and beaten his way through life during his time in Emmerdale. From woman beating to arson, Cain has done it all.

1974-2000: Early life
Cain was born as a result of an affair between his married mother Faith and Zak Dingle. Faith was married to Zak's brother Shadrach, and Shadrach bought Cain up thinking he was his natural son, unaware that he was his uncle all along. In early 1989, 14 year old Cain had a fling with his own cousin Charity and they had a daughter Debbie in October 1989 who was given up for fostering. Years later, in March 2000, Cain heard of his cousin Butch's death in a bus crash in the village and decided to attend his funeral.

2000-2004: Feud with the Tates
Cain arrives for his cousin Butch's funeral, blaming businessman Chris Tate for his death, as the lorry that crashed into the bus Butch was on was owned by Chris. Cain also blamed Butch's death on police officer Angie Reynolds and as a revenge tactic, seduces Angie's daughter, Ollie, manipulating her into believing he cares for her despite him sleeping with her mother. When Angie dumps Cain, he has her fired, has a steamy session with Ollie and pushes Ollie's grandfather Len down a flight of stairs. In November 2002, Cain and Angie plan to rob a Tate Haulage truck but she sets him up, wanting him out of her life forever, and is fatally injured in a car crash. He begs her to tell him she loves him but she tells him how much she loves her children.

Cain found that his cousin Charity was seeing Chris so Cain attacks her. Later, Paddy and Emily Kirk foster Debbie Jones, who befriends the Dingles. When Cain sees a picture of Debbie's biological mother, he realises that Debbie is his and Charity's daughter. Despite being a con artist and hard man, Cain had grown to love Debbie and he and Charity constantly clashed over their daughter but, when the pair took Debbie on a family trip, Cain and Charity’s love was rekindled and they began an affair. Chris also found out at that time that he had an inoperable and terminal brain tumour so a plan formed; he was going to frame Charity for his murder. What Chris didn’t know is that Cain was planning to murder his rival but he never got the chance - Chris drank poison having arranged for Charity to come to the house for dinner, and he correctly assumed everyone would think Charity had done the deed. Cain showed up and was there as Chris died so fearing that he and Charity would be charged with Chris’s death, he got Debbie and fled the village. He eventually came back and was cleared of all charges while his and Charity’s love grew stronger as she faced life in prison.

2004-2006: Sadie King and becoming a grandfather
After Charity's conviction for Chris' murder is quashed, realised that she couldn’t spend the rest of her life slumming it with the Dingles. She was a woman used to having money and luxuries by then and so she moved on to Tom King, and they planned to marry. But Sadie, Tom's daughter-in-law, hires Cain to make Tom think Charity has been unfaithful. He wasn’t of course – Charity really did care for Tom – but he set her up and it worked; Tom threw her out. Never one to let sleeping dogs lie herself, Charity took revenge on Sadie by sleeping with her husband Jimmy. She also got Jimmy to confess to his part in the plot in the hope that Tom would take her back when he knew the truth. A furious Tom expelled Sadie and Jimmy from the King family and Cain was similarly banished from the Dingle homestead. Charity left the village shortly after. Sadie and Cain end up in bed; when she rejects him, he kills her beloved dog Damon.

Cain and Debbie move in to Butler's Farm with Andy Sugden. Debbie and Andy quietly got closer and began a relationship of their own which was to result in baby Sarah. She kept the pregnancy a secret but when it all came out – no pun intended – Cain immediately bonded with his granddaughter and lavished love on her. However, all his best efforts to become a good family man were wasted on Debbie who rejected her daughter from the beginning. He kept on trying and desperate for an end to the situation, Debbie begged Emily to leave the village and take the baby with her. The lonely Emily happily agreed and slipped away with Sarah but when the Dingles found out, they were furious. Cain was beside himself and vowed to find his granddaughter and bring her home however he couldn't find Emily and Sarah so he returned to the village harbouring a simmering hatred for Debbie for giving away the child. He was intent on making Debbie pay for what she’d done and set about making her life hell. Things got so bad between them all that Debbie ended up moving out and went to live with Ashley Thomas and his niece Jasmine who became very close friends. Seeing this, Cain realised that he could hurt Debbie by using Jasmine so he began a charm offensive on the impressionable young girl. He slept with Jasmine and arranged things so that Debbie would walk in on them. Hurt, Debbie vowed to get her own back on Cain, no matter how long that might take.

Meanwhile, Sadie paid Cain to sabotage the King’s new show home that was to house Cain's cousin Marlon and his wife Donna by driving a JCB into it but, while he did as she asked, she refused to sleep with him, making the passionate Cain furious. When Sadie confronts him, Cain threatens to tell Matthew as well so Sadie tells Ashley that Cain got Jasmine pregnant so the Dingles throw him out and allow Debbie to return. In his fury, he told Jimmy that Sadie had arranged the show home devastation. At the time, Sadie was having an affair with Jimmy’s brother Matthew and Cain threatened to tell Matthew that he and Sadie were sleeping together. Sadie retaliated by telling Ashley that Cain had been sleeping with Jasmine which resulted in the Dingles once again evicting Cain and allowing Debbie to move back in. Defeated all round, Cain left the village for a while but was soon back when he found out the Jasmine was pregnant. He was delighted at the thought of being a father but Debbie persuaded the confused Jasmine to have an abortion which Sadie – who was chuffed to have a chance to destroy Cain’s dreams of fatherhood – paid for. On the day the abortion was to take place, Cain searched frantically for Jasmine and Debbie but by the time he found them, the deed was done and Cain was devastated but Debbie was pleased to twist the knife and she let it be known that she’d promised revenge on Cain and she’d now got it. In the meantime, the King’s plans for the new houses in the village forged ahead but what they didn’t know is that when Cain crashed into the show house, he’d fractured a gas pipe causing a dangerous build up of gas. Despite Jimmy's temporary repair, on the day of the grand opening – which most of the village attended – a spark ignited the gas, causing a huge explosion and sending the house toppling to the ground, brick by brick, and left young mum Dawn Woods – Terry’s wife and Bob Hope’s daughter – dead, as well as villager Noreen Bell and estate agent David Brown. Cain found out about the explosion and was wracked with guilt, unlike Sadie who didn’t give a stuff.

2006: Tom King's kidnap and departure
A few weeks later, Cain's brother Sam helps his cancer-stricken wife Alice to die and was to be charged with her murder, so Cain accepts responsibility for Alice's death. Cain couldn’t bear the thought of another motherless child suffering as Dawn’s son had because of his actions. His taking the blame for the death of Alice – which saved Sam – made him the new Dingle family hero, and even the embittered Debbie was impressed. Sadie showed a partially human side by anonymously paying his bail. At Alice’s funeral, Sadie once again recruited Cain into helping her get back at Tom and Matthew King; she told Cain that they could both get rich by kidnapping Tom and demanding a ransom. However, Sadie’s plan didn’t go as expected because Debbie revealed to Cain that Sadie had paid for Jasmine’s abortion, which left him heartbroken and more vengeful than he’d ever been before. After a nasty and emotion fuelled confrontation with Sadie, Cain followed her to the pre-arranged meeting place and while Sadie and Tom discussed the house collapse, Cain emerged from the woods with a shotgun and kidnapped both Tom and Sadie. After hiding out in a barn for the night, Cain returned to the village and was quizzed by his sister Chas as to whether he’d had anything to do with Tom and Sadie’s disappearance. Cain denied any involvement but eventually, the police closed in on Cain so he ran with his hostages in tow. However, the police chased him to a nearby quarry where Cain diverted their attention by sending his empty car over cliff, making everyone believe Tom and Sadie were inside it. While the police were busy searching the quarry lake for their bodies, Cain attacked two police officers and disguised himself by wearing one of their uniforms. Later, after pretending to shoot Sadie, Cain made Tom call Chas to arrange delivery of the ransom money. When this was done, Cain fled following a tearful goodbye to Debbie who begged him to take her with him. Cain refused but later, he arranged for money to be posted to his daughter to help her set up a business. When Cain got to the airport – where Sadie was by now waiting for him – he left her stranded and vowed to change his life. Cain left a final message to Debbie on her voicemail telling her to ignore what everyone else said; he told her he wasn’t with Sadie and ended by telling Debbie he loved her.

2009-2010: Return
In February 2009, Cain was arrested on his return to the country after Andy reports him to the police. He was attempting to return to support and help Debbie, who was being held on remand for the murder of PC Shane Doyle just before Christmas. He hired a lawyer who specialised in self-defence cases to help Debbie, paying him in advance. Cain returned to the village on 28th April to help Debbie gain custody of Sarah. After finding her father in her house, they hug and immediately went up to Butler's Farm but not after Cain demanded to know what's been happening with the Kings and Debbie reveals that Tom got murdered on his wedding day and the business is starting to go down now that Jimmy and Carl are driving trucks for King and Sons after being bankrupt which costed them Home Farm. Cain was also surprised to hear that Matthew is dead after a car accident on his wedding day. Debbie told him that Andy was refusing her access to Sarah. He warns Andy that Debbie will get custody after giving Sarah a princess dress. Later that day, Cain sees Carl and Jimmy. They demanded their money back but Cain refused. Jimmy punches Cain in the stomach and Debbie attempts to break the fight but Cain backs her off and continues to taunt the Kings before Carl punches Cain. Jimmy and Carl beat him up and Cain does not fight back, much to Debbie's horror, however, Eli along with Marlon come to Cain's rescue and Jimmy drags Carl inside. Cain is pleased to be back in business.

He then began flirting with Maisie Wylde, Andy's ex-girlfriend, and daughter of Mark and Natasha Wylde who took an instant dislike to Cain. After a brief fling with Maisie, Cain set his sights on Faye Lamb, first wife of Mark. They flirted for a while but it didn't come to anything as he realised she was using him to make Mark jealous. Cain also took an instant dislike to Michael - Debbie's new boyfriend but they didn't care. Cain was proved right when Michael admitted that he was getting married in a few days to his pregnant fiancee. In love with Michael, Cain and Debbie crashed the wedding and were shocked to discover that his fiancée was Charity. Michael called the wedding off, after discovering that Charity had lied about being pregnant. Cain warned Debbie not to have anything to do with Charity but on discovering that she and her young son, Noah, were homeless, invited them to stay with her. Charity took her up on it and moved in but took some persuasion to stay. She and Carl planned to rob Cain of his money but Cain realised and went after her. He and Debbie caught Charity in the act and refused to believe her when she said she was replacing it. Cain also threw her and Noah out so she moved in with Marlon. He also gave her the money she had been about to steal and after Debbie's reassurance that they were okay, left the village. He returned on 22nd December bearing presents for Debbie and Sarah. He was still angry with Charity, but they reconciled on Christmas Day after he agreed to marry her when she proposed.

Cain is taken back when he learns that Shadrach has died. Although Cain had never appreciated Shadrach it was clear that he felt a lot of grief over his loss. Cain finds Mark's wallet in the woods after Mark was killed by his wife Natasha at the start of the year, and blackmails her and her son Nathan as he thinks there is something sinister behind Mark's disappearance, however when Sam's dog, Alfie, digs up the body and Nathan frames his half-brother and Cain's employee, Ryan Lamb, for Mark's murder, and Ryan is convicted. Cain tells Maisie that Nathan and Natasha paid him to keep quiet and he cannot help Ryan without incriminating himself for fraud and blackmail. After seeing Nathan lie in the witness box, Cain kidnaps him to keep Sam quiet about the wallet. He holds him hostage in an abandoned barn, which is uncalled for, threatening to kill him if Ryan is found guilty. When Maisie learns what her mother and brother did, she calls the police and telling them her mother killed her father. Cain should have been arrested and should have spent time in prison for kidnapping Nathan.

2011-2012: Judgement Day
In April 2011, Cain is on the rebound after Charity refuses to forgive him for cheating with Faye, and sleeps with Amy Wyatt. When he rejects her, she tells him she is pregnant with his child. He coerces her into agreeing to an abortion but her pregnancy is too far advanced. However, Amy too scared of what Cain will do, so Amy tells him and Victoria Sugden that she had the abortion. Moria decides to purchase a Land Rover from Cain and agrees to pay him the money in weekly instalments. Moira asks Cain to keep the arrangement from John, as their marriage is under a lot of strain and is quite fragile at that moment. Cain tells John about the arrangement and Moira goes to see Cain where they fight. Moira kisses Cain and they have sex. Moira regrets this instantly but they soon begin an affair Moira pleads with Cain not to tell John, however Cain reveals the affair by taunting John about Moira's birth mark on her thigh leading to Moira and John to split up.

Cain, who is angry at Charity for dumping him for Jai starts to cause problems for the couple. Cain becomes a couple with Jai's sister Priya to annoy Jai. Cain sends Jai a photo of Priya asleep nude and persuades her to call the police on Jai when he accidentally knocks her to the ground. Jai is arrested for assault but he is later released with a caution. Cain's trouble-making leaves Jai and Charity feeling that they have no option but to call their wedding off.

Cain dislikes Jai Sharma so when Jai's sister Priya shows an interest in him, Cain uses this to his advantage. Jai accuses Cain of stealing from his parents' house and causing their father's road accident. Cain sends Jai a photo of Priya asleep nude and persuades her to call the police for assaulting her. Meanwhile, Amy gives birth to Cain's son, Kyle, in a cemetery; thinking he is dead, she panics and leaves him in a phonebox. Hazel Rhodes and Lisa Dingle find him, and call an ambulance. Amy admits to being his mother, and Cain realises she lied about the abortion. Priya forgives Cain until she learns he is the father of Amy's baby and slept with Moira. Cain is arrested when Jai reports his threats to the police but Cain is released with a caution. When Cain enters the Woolpack, he begins taunting John and when Chas refuses to serve him, he eyeballs each customer, insulting them one by one. Debbie throws him out after finding about Amy. Cain confronts John, Moira, Chas and Amy before leaving the village.

As Cain walks along the outskirts of the village, he stops and zips up his coat. Cain hears footsteps behind him but before he turns, he is struck hard on the back of the legs with a metal object and falls to the ground. Through his pain, he clearly recognises his attacker and is severely hit over the head. Debbie's boyfriend Cameron Murray later finds Jai standing over a badly injured Cain and calls an ambulance. Cain is rushed to hospital, Jai and Charity are arrested and questioned by the police. John is also arrested when Moira reveals to one of the investigating officers how John hurt his hand. While John is arrested, Cain takes a turn for the worse where it is discovered that he has a clot on the brain and needs urgent surgery, which goes well. Cain ultimately recovers, claiming that Jai attacked him. Amy visits Cain and while he is sleeping, she tells him she might keep her baby. She is unaware that he has heard everything. Zak later admits that he was responsible and Cain tells the police that a man he knew from Spain attacked him.

2012-2014: The Bartons
Cain spends the next few months recovering from his attack. He saves Holly Barton's life when she relapses on heroin and angers her brother, Adam. Confronting Cain at the garage, he demands an apology for what Cain has done to his family but Cain refuses. So Adam sets the garage on fire and leaves Cain to die but, racked with guilt, returns later. Cain's nephew Aaron Livesy begs him to tell the police the fire was an accident, and Cain threatens Adam. Cain then helps Aaron flee the police by getting a fake passport for him. Moira and Cain decide to get together and on New Year's Day 2013, they announce their relationship by kissing in the Woolpack. In April, Moira learns that she is pregnant with Cain's baby but she soon miscarries. Despite this, their relationship gets stronger and Cain moves in with Moira and Adam, who adjusts to the situation.

In August, Debbie reunites with Cameron, angering Cain and Charity. Cain takes Cameron hostage and threatens to kill him but Debbie forces Charity to tell her where Cain is going and stops him harming Cameron. Reluctantly, Cain relents but warns Cameron that he'll be watching him. In October 2013 Cain goes on holiday but sees a newsflash explaining that Cameron has laid siege to The Woolpack and has Debbie and Chas held hostage. Cain rushes back to Emmerdale to find Debbie and Chas safe and that Cameron died in the siege. Cain supports Debbie through the trauma and eventually nurses her back to health. Cain then resumes his romance with Moira, but later that same month the man who terrorized Laurel Thomas arrives at the Bartons injured. The man reveals himself to be Ross Barton, Moira's nephew who assisted Cain in a crime he participated in during his absence. Cain is unhappy to see Ross, but reluctantly allows him to stay with him and Moira and gives him a job at the garage.

However later in 2013 Cain and Moira's life is intruded on furthermore when Ross's father James follows him to Emmerdale accompanied with his two other sons Pete and Finn. Cain and James instantly clash especially when Moira informs Cain that James made a pass at her in March 2014. Cain confronts James and warns him that he is keeping an eye on him. James later apologizes to Cain. Later that same month, Moira proposes to Cain this time and he accepts.

2014-present: Marriage to Moira Barton
The couple get engaged and, with assistance from Chas in wedding preparations, Cain and Moira set a date for 15th May 2014. They get married successfully, although James gets drunk at their reception.

In December 2014, Cain returns home from a business trip to France with bad pain in his head. He ignores it for a week, at which point he collapses and is found by Charity, who takes him to a hospital. Cain is told he had a brain aneursym stemming from his attack in 2011 and needs an operation immediately, but leaves the hospital without having had the operation. Returning to the village, he walks by the river but falls in after a dizzy spell. He is found by Vanessa Woodfield while she is out walking.

Background information

 * Jeff Hordley decided to leave the show in April 2006, with the door left open for a potential return. He was asked to return to the show but initially turned the offer down until he felt the "time was right". Cain's exit storyline was the kidnapping Tom and Sadie King and Cain fleeing the country (which also resulted in Sadie's exit). Cain returned in Episode 5282 on 28th April 2009.
 * In 2011, it was announced that Cain would be attacked by a mystery assailant. Six suspects to the attack were named: John and Moira Barton as Cain had destroyed their marriage by having an affair with Moira; Jai Sharma and Charity Tate as Cain had terrorised them and caused them to end their relationship; Amy Wyatt as Cain had got her pregnant through a one-night-stand and had then proceeded to taunt her about being a single teenage mother; and Cain's father Zak as he felt Cain needed to be taught a lesson for the things he had done and for disgracing the Dingle family name.