Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) and Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) were both visited by police officers in tonight’s episode of Emmerdale, and they had news regarding their children.

Earlier in the week, Dawn discovered that her son Lucas had been in a fight with Nicola’s lad Carl. At Mulberry Cottage, Dawn told Lucas to apologise but he outright refused, and even went as far as saying that he didn’t regret his actions.

It was in tonight’s episode where we discovered the reason behind Lucas hitting Carl. At both Mulberry Cottage and Home Farm, police officers confirmed to Dawn and Nicola that Clemmie, Dawn’s daughter, had sent an indecent image to Carl, who had shared it to other members of his class.

At first, Dawn was in disbelief and noted that Clemmie is 10 years old, so of course she wouldn’t do anything like that. A police officer confirmed that the image was of Clemmie as she had seen it.

In the UK, if you are under the age of 18, it is against the law to take, have or distribute a sexual photo, including selfies.

Due to the fact Clemmie took the photo and Carl sent it to his school friends, they have both committed an offence.

The news was incredibly hard to digest for both Dawn and Nicola. While Dawn spent time wondering what to do next and how to discuss the matter with Clemmie, Nicola was in denial.

Carl then confirmed that he did share the image around. Completely out of her depth, Nicola googled this circumstance, and was staggered to learn that her young boy, who is still scared of monsters under the bed, could face a charge.

When a police officer returned to the house, Nicola learnt that Carl would soon be questioned under caution.

Discussing this storyline and what lies ahead, star Nicola Wheeler said: ‘Carl’s sorry for what he did to Clemmie, he’s sorry he embarrassed her, but he had absolutely no idea this would be a police matter and also that he would be breaking the law.

‘None of the children do, because of course Clemmie is also breaking the law in sending the picture in the first place. It’s something parents need to be aware of.

‘I did ask one of our supporting artists, who’s a police officer, “What would a parent do in those circumstances?” And he said the first thing you would do is contact the school and also you would go to the police station and show them. Don’t delete or forward it or anything. It’s also a crime to forward it. You shouldn’t really have it on your phone, because the fact you’ve got it on your phone is also a criminal offence.’

She added: ‘I didn’t know half of this, I just assumed it would be a rap on the knuckles to the kids, but it’s not, it’s indecent exposure which is child pornography, and that’s why the police take it seriously. Because anybody could get hold of this image, we know what the internet’s like. This is what the storyline is about, really. Our generation don’t really understand the internet.

‘I was born in the 70s. I think the younger generation are more clued up than us, but the parents are sitting there going, “How do you get access to that site? What do you mean, the dark web?” We don’t understand any of it.’

Nicola reflected: ‘I think the big thing parents need to look at is when children have images like that through Snapchat and WhatsApp and things like that, how people can share that image very quickly and move it and before they know it it’s not their image any more. It’s important to get the message to all the girls and boys who are like Clemmie – once they’ve released that picture they can’t do anything about it.

‘Anybody else who forwards it on, they are committing a crime. Then it’s too late, your picture’s out there. The thing Emmerdale is saying is don’t do it, be aware, it’s not just going to the person you think it’s to. The internet isn’t private.’