While Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo) were busy getting married in the picturesque Hunter Valley, Lacey was back in Summer Bay putting the finishing touches to her plot to bring down Councillor Wendell, the man she believed to be responsible for the accident which killed her mum.

Lacey’s sister Jo (Maddison Brown) had been driving at the time of the crash, which happened some two years ago, before the family moved to Summer Bay.

While Jo survived, she was left with little memory of the incident, and it wasn’t until a hypnotherapy session two weeks ago that she was able to recall the involvement of another vehicle, which ran her and her mum off the road.

Jo’s memory of a partial number plate led their dad David to track down the car’s owner, a Councillor Wendell, who was at a community event in nearby Red Gum Falls on the afternoon of the accident back in 2023.

However, Councillor Wendell’s lawyer soon warned David to back off, and, after a call was made to David’s superiors with a complaint that he was too involved with the case, he was ordered by his Superintendent to cease his investigation.

Meanwhile, Lacey had realised that Wendell was the prime suspect after she snuck into her dad’s office and took a photo of his whiteboard of evidence.

She soon revealed to her dad that she’d called Wendell using a fake name and had threatened to expose him to the press if he didn’t come clean. She also told David and Jo that she’d spent a night watching the councillor’s house, much to David’s shock.

David made clear to Lacey that she’d broken multiple laws in her pursuit of justice – stealing evidence, unlawfully entering police premises, and extortion.

He also pointed out that her piling on the pressure had potentially resulted in Wendell fleeing the country, never to be seen again. Jo then ripped into her sister, accusing her of putting the entire investigation at risk.

With little chance of the case being reopened, Lacey, determined to bring down her mum’s killer, decided to continue her investigation, despite David warning her that they had no idea what Councillor Wendell was capable of.

She cornered Jo, telling her that they needed to book her in for another hypnotherapy appointment as soon as possible, so that she could remember even more.

“She wants closure,” Sophea Pennington recently explained to Aussie magazine TV Week. “She wants the truth, not revenge. She wants justice for her mum, and a reason.”

David later opened up to Justin, telling him that “it’s taking all of my strength not to turn up on his doorstep.”

Soon after, Theo finally got in contact with Lacey, only for her to confirm that she wouldn’t be making the wedding after all. She then headed back to the Pier apartment, where she called Wendell.

She told him that she knew he caused the accident, telling him that there was an eyewitness. She then told him to meet her at Warratah Drive in two hours’ time.

With the evening winding down, Lacey finally arrived, but only to ask Theo to come with her to meet Wendell.

It led to a blow-up with Leah and Justin, as Theo revealed to them that Lacey was going her mum’s potential killer. Leah desperately tried to stop him, reminding him of what happened last time with the River Boys, but Theo shouted back that Leah needed to back off.

“Fine. Don’t expect me to be there for you when it all goes wrong,” Leah retorted angrily as she watched her nephew walk away for the final time.

Nonetheless, Theo left the wedding and headed back towards Summer Bay, where Lacey was ready to put her plan into action.

With Theo by her side, Lacey prepared to come face to face with Councillor Wendell, as they pulled up on the deserted country road in the dead of night.

As Lacey got out of the car ready to talk to him, Wendell would soon show what he was truly capable of.

After Lacey told Wendell that she knew exactly what happened, giving him the information from Jo’s latest hypnotherapy session, she thought she had him right where she wanted him.

She told him she wanted him to go to the cops and confess, and, clearly panicked, he agreed to go right away.

He then got back in his car. However, rather than drive off to do as he’d promised Lacey he would, he accelerated hard and drove towards her at full speed in an attempt to mow her down.

But as the truth finally began to come to light about the accident, little did they know it would lead to Theo losing his own life.

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with repeat screenings at 6pm on 5STAR and first-look screenings at 6.30pm on 5STAR. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.

In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7Plus.