and is completely unaware that Sinead and Ruby Button (Anna Shaffer) are bullying Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks) following the bus crash. Diane asks Sinead whether she was involved in the bullying and she denies it and blames Ruby. New headteacher Patrick Blake (Jeremy Sheffield) promotes Diane to head of the Anti-Bullying scheme, but she is left shocked when Ruby reveals to Diane that Sinead was also involved in the bullying. Diane kicks Ruby out of her home and she is run over by Jack Osborne's (Jimmy McKenna) car. Ruby does not sustain any serious injuries and returns home the next day. Diane and Sinead agree to keep her involvement in the bullying secret but is caught out when Dylan Shaw's (Mikey Riddington-Smith) video of Esther is shown at The Dog, the video reveals her bullies in front of Patrick. Some time later, Diane has a drunken one-night stand with Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) and embarrassed upon her awakening, she secretly leaves his bedroom nonetheless Tony notices. Diane is stunned to discover her pregnancy after. Sinead gives birth to a baby girl, who she calls Katy O'Connor. Diane and Tony enter a relationship during Diane's pregnancy and open up a family business together, along with Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson), called The Hutch. As Diane nears her due date, her and Tony visit Brighton. They then discover that they met when children there, before Diane goes into labor and gives birth to twins, whom the pair name Anthony and Dee Dee Hutchinson. They return to the village as a family, but their life is far from peaceful. Diane is shocked to discover that Sinead has turned to prostitution to keep herself afloat, and forces her to move in with her, Tony and Finn to avoid suffering financial difficulty. Unbeknownst to Diane, Finn rapes his teacher John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) after a long while of homophobic bullying, but Diane maintains the image that her son is well behaved. When Sinead enters a relationship with Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham), Sinead moves in with him and takes baby Katy with her. However, Katy falls ill and Sinead rushes her to the hospital, but nurse Lindsey Butterfield (Sophie Austin) insists there is nothing wrong with the baby and discharges her, believing she is trying to gain attention. Without Diane knowing, Sinead cuts her own finger and places her blood inside baby Katy's nappy to ensure