This week on Home and Away in Australia, as Perri’s day in court arrives, his lawyer calls a shock witness in an attempt to save him from prison.
A little under three weeks ago, Perri (Cantona Stewart) killed his dad in the garden of the Parata house, ending the years of abuse that his father had subjected him to since he was a kid.
Perri had arrived in Summer Bay as a participant in Tane’s (Ethan Browne) programme for troubled youths, which saw the teens having access to free boot camps and full use of the equipment at Summer Bay Fit.
Tane soon found himself bonding with the new arrival, and Perri eventually opened up to him, admitting that his dad regularly forced him to carry out numerous illegal activities on his behalf.
He explained that he’d borne the brunt of years of anger, and if Carl ever arrived home unhappy, Perri knew that another beating was coming. As a result, he felt pressured to do as he was told.
But with his 18th birthday approaching, Perri knew that he would soon face prison time instead of juvie if he carried on doing his dad’s dirty work for him, and wanted to turn his life around.
Perri ended up abandoning his father and moving in with Tane – first at the farmhouse alongside Mac (Emily Weir) and Levi (Tristan Gorey), then later on Saxon Avenue with Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) after Tane returned to the house he’d lived in for most of his time in Summer Bay.
Perri’s dad Carl (Matthew Holmes) eventually tracked his son down to Summer Bay, leading to a tense showdown in which Carl tried to bate Tane into breaking the terms of his community sentence by taunting him to hit him.
Carl’s threatening behaviour prompted Perri to ask Rose (Kirsty Marillier) to press charges against his dad for the years of domestic abuse, and a few weeks later he was forced to face his dad in court, testifying against him.
In the end, the judge found Carl not guilty and he was allowed to walk free, leaving Perri fearing that he would come back for revenge.
Rose quickly put an AVO on Carl, preventing him from going anywhere near his son.
Unsurprisingly, but he paid no notice of that, and it was a matter of days before he returned to Summer Bay and cornered Perri in the surf club, where he demanded that he go with him to carry out one final job.
Perri refused once again, and told his dad that he didn’t fear him, as Tane had his back. However, Carl coldly retorted that “there are plenty of ways to skin a cat,” making it clear that “accidents happen all the time. People get run over, brake lines can get cut. You just never know…”
Carl had also managed to figure out where Perri and Tane lived, and a few days later, Perri entered the house to find a knife stabbed into a block on the kitchen counter, with the AVO paperwork underneath. Turning around, he found the menacing figure of his father waiting for him.
When Perri again refused to go with his dad, things took a dark turn. Carl dragged Perri into the garden and repeatedly plunged his son’s head underwater as he repeated his demands for him to leave town.
When Tane returned to Saxon Avenue later that evening, having been unable to get hold of Perri, he spotted the silhouette of a body floating in the pool. Assuming it was Perri, he rushed towards the water’s edge, only to hear Perri’s voice from behind him.
“I didn’t mean it. I killed my dad.”
Tane had no choice but to call the police, but in the time it took them to arrive, Perri had vanished. He tracked down Theo (Matt Evans), who agreed to hide him at Summer Bay Auto.
However, when a manhunt was launched and Theo realised how much trouble he could be in by hiding a fugitive, he told Tane where Perri was hiding out, and Tane eventually managed to convince Perri to hand himself in.
Perri told Rose that his dad must have hit his head in the struggle, but the autopsy report soon revealed that there was water in Carl’s lungs, implying that he had drowned and making it appear that Perri himself was responsible.
Rose then proceeded to charge Perri with murder, despite knowing that Carl’s abusive past meant it was likely Perri was acting in self-defence, and the teen spent the last couple of weeks preparing for his trial.
This week, the day of his trial rolls around, and it’s not looking good. With nobody there to witness what went down, it’s Perri’s word against the prosecution. Knowing that his dad was found not guilty the last time he stood in front of a judge, Perri doesn’t have any faith in the system.
He decides once again that his best choice is to simply run away. As actor Cantona Stewart explains to TV Week, “he’s worried he’ll be sentenced to life in prison.”
It’s on Tane to be the voice of reason, and he manages to convince Perri to stay and fight the charges.
“Perri is so fortunate to have Tane by his side – he’s like an older brother or father figure,” Cantona continues. “He’s the only person in his life who demonstrates real love, which is something foreign to him.”
Tane and Rose are both called to the stand, giving evidence on Carl’s history of abuse towards his son, as they try to convince the judge and jury of Perri’s innocence. However, with a lack of evidence, it’s looking likely that Perri is facing a guilty verdict.
Then, Perri’s lawyer Jane (Charlotte Friels) surprises everyone – not least of all Perri – when she calls a surprise witness to the stand.
“Huge and unexpected is a great way to describe it,” Cantona adds, without revealing their identity.
Who has Jane got up her sleeve, and can they save the day?
