Soap stars who ended up in jail – including Corrie star turned drug dealer found with £38k ‘dirty money’ in Tesco bags
THEY may have been adored by millions for their on-screen persona and incredible acting abilities.
But these soap actors found themselves in real-life troubles that led them straight from the spotlight to the courtroom – and ultimately behind bars.
This week, it was revealed that former EastEnders actor Youssef Berouain has been jailed for killing cricket star Gus Atkinson’s mum, Caroline, in a horrific car crash.
He was driving at double the speed limit when he collided with the 55-year-old, who was travelling in an Uber in Fulham, South West London.
The actor, who played teen gang member Tayo on the BBC soap, then fled the country shortly after the tragedy.
Cops only found out he had escaped seven months after the incident when they showed up at his home to arrest him.
He first jetted off to Dubai before heading to the United States. He was only found out when he tried to apply for a driving licence in Los Angeles and had to divulge his address.
But it took another four years to get him extradited to the UK to face justice.
According to the Telegraph, Berouain, 31, who has also appeared in Doctors and The Looming Tower, was jailed for eight and a half years.
Here, we look at other soap actors who found themselves at the wrong end of the law.
Machete threat
In 2020, former Waterloo Road actor Craig Fitzpatrick, 36, who played Lewis Seddon, was jailed for 18 months.
After a “family dispute”, he went to a home and threatened those inside with an 18-inch machete while he was high and drunk in August 2020.
A court heard how a neighbour spotted him hitting the front door with the huge blade before going inside while “swinging the machete”.
He also told a woman in the property that if her family were spotted on the estate, they “would be dead”, leaving her fearing for her life.
She eventually pushed him out of the property with a broom.
Fitzpatrick, who also appeared in Holby City and Shameless, admitted possession of a bladed article and affray.
During the sentence, the judge, Recorder Mark Ford told Fitzpatrick about how his actions must have “terrified” the residents.
He said: “You then used the machete to smash windows of the house. The occupants would have been terrified.”
In a victim statement, the family said they no longer felt safe in their home.
Drug dealer with ‘dirty money’
Chris Hargreaves, 56, may have played a drug dealer on Coronation Street, but fans were shocked to learn that his real life wasn’t too far off.
On the soap, he played five different characters in the 1980s and 90s and later portrayed gangster Carl Foster, who caused Des Barnes’s death.
But in the real world, he was nicked by cops after a raid on his former family home in Salford, Greater Manchester.
They found 3kg of high-grade cannabis at the property Chris shared with his ex-wife Samantha and their five children.
A total of £38,000 in “dirty money” was also discovered stuffed into Tesco carrier bags, shoe boxes and drawers at the property.
Additionally, prosecutor Michael Maher told Manchester Crown Court that Hargreaves and his ex-wife had laundered £17,000 through the children’s bank accounts.
Hargreaves claimed that the money found came from investors who were funding a film he was producing called I Know A Safe Place.
He claimed a BAFTA-winning producer was set to work on the project.
However, when prosecutors tried to call a number he gave them for the director, an old woman who did not know who he was answered the phone.
He was convicted of having class B drugs with the intention of selling them, laundering money, and possessing the club drug M-Cat, dating back to 2012.
He was jailed for four and a half years in April 2016. During his sentencing, Recorder Graham Wells said: “This was not something off the cuff – this was sophisticated, this was organised, and it was big.
“The jury rejected it was money paid towards investment in a film. They found it was drug money.”
Getaway driver
In 2012, former Brookside actor Brian Regan, 66, who played Terry Sullivan in the soap, was jailed for lying about his part in a gangland killing.
Bahman Faraji, who was 44, was shot dead at close range outside the Belgrave public house in Aigburth in February 2011.
Jason Gabbana was convicted of ordering the murder of the nightclub doorman in Liverpool.
While Regan admitted he drove the gunman to and from the scene of the crime, he was found to have lied to investigators that he didn’t know that the plan was to kill Faraji.
He has also said he had no idea the assailants were carrying a sawn-off shotgun.
Part of his sentence was for perverting the course of justice, as he had lied about his involvement in the crime and provided a false alibi.
He was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison.
Convicted murderer
In 1985, Leslie Grantham joined EastEnders as legendary villain Den Watts, who committed many atrocities.
But in real life, he was a convicted murderer.
In 1966, when Leslie was 19 years old and serving as a soldier in the British Army, he was stationed in Germany. There, he attempted to rob a taxi driver called Felix Reese by threatening him at gunpoint.
In a struggle between the men, Leslie shot Reese in the head, which killed him. He was arrested shortly for murder.
He told cops he had no idea the gun was loaded and had only gone off while the two were in a scuffle. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Since he was in the Army when convicted, he served the entirety of his sentence in British prisons.
Having served ten years of his life sentence, he was paroled in 1977 and trained to become an actor, before getting the role of Dirty Den on EastEnders.
Three-day manhunt
Orpheus Pledger was one of a few actors who starred in both Neighbours and Home and Away, two of Australia’s biggest soaps.
Before then, he was a child actor who starred in the children’s series Silverson.
But the 31-year-old actor found himself in trouble with the law. In February 2021, he was charged with possessing half a gram of methylamphetamine and 30 tablets of Diazepam, which he had no prescription for.
He later accepted responsibility and did not have to enter a plea, which meant he was not given a criminal record.
In March this year, Orpheus was again arrested by cops. This time, it was for an alleged assault on a woman. He was due to appear in court via video link on April 23.
When he did not show up, it was discovered that he had escaped from the Royal Melbourne Hospital while waiting for a medical assessment.
With an arrest warrant issued for him, police launched a manhunt which ended after three days following his arrest.
A court heard how his victim suffered his victim suffered severe injuries including a haematoma on her head, cuts to her cheek and bruises. Part of the alleged attack was captured on CCTV.
On August 16, he was sentenced to seven months in prison after a magistrate found that he “lacked remorse for his conduct”.
He was later released on bail after an appeal and is expected to return to court on November 12.
String of bizarre crimes
In September last year, former child star Felix Dean, who played V.J. Patterson on Home and Away, was jailed for a string of bizarre crimes.
He was arrested for assaulting three people and for attempting to steal a luxury car while using a wine bottle as his weapon of choice.
According to court documents, the actor approached a stranger while high on drugs and alcohol and shouted: “I’ll smash you”.
When the victim turned around, Felix pushed and punched the stranger. A man who witnessed the incident also got pushed when he jumped in.
After a woman intervened, she was shoved in the back. Felix was restrained by two men until police arrived to arrest him.
The next month, he tried to steal an Audi A5 while drunk. He swung a full wine bottle at the driver and said: “Get the f*** out of the car c*** and give me your f***ing keys”, according to the NCA Newswire.
In 2021, it was reported that he was behind bars after battering a shopkeeper with a hammer while on bail for attacking a cop.
Before his legal troubles, he played VJ alongside Ada Nicodemou, who starred as his mother on the hit soap.