she returns to the square and is shocked when Nick returns unexpectedly. He tries to steal her money again by claiming he has AIDS and needs money to pay for illegally imported medication. Dot believes him but later discovers it is a lie and he is on the run from the police. She contacts the police, and he is arrested a week after his return. Dot moves in with fellow senior citizen Lilly Mattock (Barbara Keogh) and is arrested for the illegal use of cannabis, which she confuses for herbal tea. When Lilly leaves after she is mugged, Dot moves in with Pauline. Her oldest friend Ethel also comes to stay with the Fowlers for a time, having become terminally ill. Ethel begs Dot to help her end her life. Torn between her Christian beliefs against euthanasia and her best friend's wishes, she helps Ethel to die, but later feels she should be jailed for murder. When the police do not believe her story, Dot demands retribution in another form and she ends up in court for shoplifting. She initially avoids a prison sentence but is imprisoned for 14 days for contempt of court following an outburst in the courtroom. When Dot reappears on the square after serving her sentence, she learns that Nick has also been released from prison. She goes to stay with Pauline's son Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) for a while, and at somepoint encounters Ashley (now played by Frankie Fitzgerald) after he runs away from home. Eventually, Nick himself returns to the square and reunites with Dot – who is shocked to see her son once more. Initially sceptical over Nick's previous criminality, Dot is pleased to have her family around and moves out of the Fowler household to live with them. Mark, however, is unimpressed due to his longstanding feud with Nick and the two end up clashing with each other on multiple occasions. At one point on New Year's Day 2001, Mark spikes Nick's drink and causes him to fall off a railway bridge in revenge for the trouble he has caused to his family. Nick vows revenge and calls the police on Mark, before telling Dot about the incident. At first she accuses Mark, but later believes his story and the pair work together to deal with Nick's temporarily paralysis. Months later, Nick's feud with Mark leads him to cut the brakes on