Sandy Thomas

Sandy Thomas is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He is played by Freddie Jones.

About Sandy

Sandy arrived in Emmerdale and was introduced as the father of vicar Ashley Thomas. Ashley and Sandy were estranged due to Sandy having helped Ashley's mum die of a terminal illness. However, Ashley's new wife Laurel and granddaughter Jasmine were pleased to have him around.

Sandy became friends with Daz Eden and Shadrach Dingle but made an enemy out of Edna Birch. He was accused of kidnapping Belle Dingle at Christmas 2005 after she went missing.

After a major fall-out with his son, Sandy moved in with Alan Turner and Betty Eagleton. Father and son reconciled but Sandy stayed with Alan and Betty.

Departure

Freddie Jones, the actor who plays Sandy Thomas left the dales in March 2008 but producers are keen to stress the door has been left open for his return.

Return

Sandy returned in February 2009, when it was revealed that Jasmine had gone to see him after leaving the village. He and his new lady friend helped Jasmine find a flat but when first Marlon and Eli Dingle came looking for her, closely followed by Ashley and Laurel Thomas, Jasmine went on the run again.

Jasmine told Sandy what had happened to Shane and that Debbie was on remand for manslaughter. She felt she confess to the police but Debbie and Sandy urged her to go on the run. She returned to Emmerdale briefly as Sandy had promised her some money so she witnessed Danielle Hutch being arrested. She went to Debbie's court hearing and confessed to Shane's murder - just as Debbie was about to plead guilty to manslaughter. She was charged with manslaughter and pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to four years in prison, leaving Debbie and her family devastated.

Sandy stayed at the vicarage for a while but overcrowding meant that he and Doug were sharing a room. Unhappy with this, Sandy tried blackmailing Nicola for her room by telling her that he is seventy-six years old....it didn't work. Sandy and Douglas (Laurel's father) saw that Nicola and Jimmy King had a rocky relationship and in desperation, wrote Nicola a love letter supposedly from Jimmy. The letter included an invitation to move into Mill Cottage which she accepted. This eased the overcrowding but Ashley and Laurel grew annoyed with Sandy when his preoccupation with Jasmine's plight led to Gabby destroying the computer monitor in Cafe Hope. She thought if she was naughty enough, she would be sent to prison like Jasmine, and could ask the governor to let Jasmine go because it was making her grandad very sad. Angry, Ashley threw Sandy out. Debbie found him the next morning, sleeping in the shed in her garden. Sandy and Ashley reconciled but Sandy, seeing that Diane Sugden was lonely, asked if he could move into the Woolpack and she agreed.