Sandra Flaherty (previously Livesy) is Gordon Livesy's second wife, and mother of Olivia Flaherty.
Gordon's son Aaron came in contact with German Measles in 2006 so Gordon sent him to live with his mother Chas Dingle for a while as Sandra was pregnant. Sandra gave birth to a daughter in 2006. Two years later in 2008 Aaron drunkenly punched Sandra, leaving her with a black eye. Gordon threw Aaron out of the house at Sandra's request as they could no longer cope.
She left Gordon shortly after that and changed her surname to Flaherty. As of February 2016 she was living near York. With the help of Robert Sugden, Aaron tracked Sandra down, despite the name change, as he needed he help to convict Gordon of child abuse against him when he was a child. Sandra refused to come forward as a witness however.
In March 2016, when Liv went missing, Sandra went to the village in an attempt to find her. While there, Sandra confessed to Chas that she had had suspicions of Aaron's abuse. She explained how, fourteen years ago, she had taken Liv with her to her mother's house and left Aaron with Gordon. On returning the next day, she had found Aaron's wet pyjamas in the bin, initially believing Aaron had just wet himself. She began to keep a close eye on Gordon and six years later, the day before Aaron left home, Sandra overheard Aaron and Gordon arguing in the bathroom with Aaron saying to Gordon "You can't do that to me anymore". After their conversation, she agreed to go to the police to make a statement.
Following Gordon's conviction in April 2016, Sandra made plans to move to Dublin but Liv was hesitant to go with her, preferring to stay with Aaron. After being convinced to let Liv stay, Sandra moved away without her daughter, trusting Aaron would do his best to look after Liv. A month later, Gordon hanged himself.
In 2017, Sandra went on holiday to Mauritius with a friend, and suffered a severe accident while drunk. She was left comatose and in a critical condition, so Chas took Liv to Ireland to see Sandra.
In May 2021, after her drinking problems returned and she wanted to get away from her family in the village, Liv reunited with Sandra in at a caravan park in Wales and the two proceeded to party and drink together. After staying there for two weeks, Sandra panicked when she witnessed Liv suffering a seizure. Aaron who had tracked Liv down explained that Liv had epilepsy and Sandra realized she was not fit to look after Liv and told her to return to Emmerdale with Aaron.
In July 2022, Sandra makes a surprise appearance at Mill Cottage and asks Liv if she could help her recover from her alcohol addiction, Liv decides to help her mother however Vinny Dingle and the rest of the family are sceptical of Sandra. Sandra tells Liv and Vinny that she is being intimidated by an old acquaintance called Terry whom Sandra owes £4000, Liv uses her own savings to clear Sandra's debt, however Sandra is working with Terry to scam Liv out of her money. Liv finds Sandra a job in the local salon, Sandra steals from the tip jar. When Rishi Sharma enters the salon boasting about the windfall he has received from his decree absolute, Sandra decides to catfish him on a dating app. When Sandra cancels Rishi's online date, she instead goes for a drink with him, he takes her back to Holdgate Farm for more drinks after. The next morning Sandra tells Rishi she feels as if he is embarrassed of her and she also informs him that she has fallen off the wagon thanks to him, Rishi offers her £500 to help with her sobriety, Sandra gladly pockets the money.
List of appearances[]
2006[]
2008[]
2016[]
- Thu 25th Feb (1)
- Thu 25th Feb (2)
- Thu 17th Mar (1)
- Thu 17th Mar (2)
- Fri 18th Mar
- Mon 21st Mar
- Wed 13th Apr
- Mon 18th Apr
- Tue 19th Apr