Was Coronation Street’s Aidan Critchley a murderer? Here’s where actor Dean Ashton is now
TEEN tearaway Aidan Critchley was Ken Barlow’s nightmare pupil and one of Sarah Platt’s first loves.
But was he to blame for the murder of Maxine Peacock? And where is former Coronation Street star Dean Ashton now?
Dean Ashton made his Corrie debut as cocky and obnoxious Aidan in April, 2022.
Aidan was one of Sarah Platt’s (Tina O’Brien) classmates at Weatherfield and, despite her mother Gail’s (Helen Worth) best efforts, they started dating.
At the time, Sarah was somewhat of a troubled teen herself, particularly after giving birth to a daughter named Bethany at the age of thirteen.
The romance was dangerously explosive for Sarah as Aidan convinced her to go joyriding with him in Ken Barlow’s (William Roache) car.
Sarah was left for dead in the vehicle after Aidan had lost control and crashed the car.
Badly injured during the crash, Sarah was in a coma for while but things eventually worked out.
Over on Aidan’s side, however, tensions were brimming between him and Ken, whose life at Weatherfield High had turned into a nightmare because of the lad.
Ken once lost his cool and punched Aidan in the face, breaking his nose.
The teacher was immediately suspended but things only got worse for Aidan as he was thrown out of his own home and squatted in an empty shop owned by Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor), then married to Kevin Wesbter.
Aidan was eventually accused and even prosecuted for the murder of Maxine Peacock – the handiwork of one of Weatherfield’s biggest serial killers, Richard Hillman.
Due to his chequered past with Corrie residents, Richard saw Aidan as the perfect scapegoat for his crimes.
Richard made plans to kill Emily Bishop and, on the night of the planned murder, he drugged Aidan before stealing his clothes.
He then headed off to kill Corrie stalwart Emily but things went wrong when Maxine walked in, interrupting him.
Richard had to make sure no cumbersome witness would grass on him, which prompted him to kill Maxine.
Emily survived but was in no position to point anyone out to the authorities.
While his plan didn’t go as expected, Richard was out of trouble – Aidan was the prime suspect in Maxine’s murder.
Aidan was left to handle the police investigation alone, with nobody to support him, but his one-time enemy Ken Barlow surprised him by agreeing to help him.
Surprisingly, Ken was convinced Aidan was innocent as he’d seen him on the night of the murder, clearly drugged and in no state to harm anybody.
Sadly, Ken and Sarah were the only ones who knew Aidan was innocent as he was still charged with Maxine’s murder.
Aidan was sent to a young offenders’ institute to wait for his trial but, eventually, the truth caught up with both him and Richard.
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The teen was released when Richard confessed and he was able to get his life back on track.
Unfortunately for him, Sarah had moved on to Todd Grimshaw.
Aidan made the decision to leave Weatherfield and never returned.
Hailing from Manchester, 36-year-old Dean kicked off his acting career with his stint in Coronation Street which lasted until 2003.
He has since appeared in several TV movies and series including Dirty War (2004), The Courtroom and Ransom (2017).
Dean also had a small role in the 2011 film The Point of Regret.
While he has taken a step back from the limelight, the actor remains active on Instagram, where he documents his travels, from the Kingdom of Bahrain to Portugal, with candid shots.
He can be seen in the company of those closest to him – including fashion photographer Elizabeth Gibson and their two dogs.
Meanwhile, Coronation Street airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8pm on ITV.