Lauren Bolton will face turmoil on Coronation Street as her trial for the murder of Joel Deering gets underway.

The villain’s body was found in the canal back in October following his mysterious disappearance, with his death eventually being treated as a murder.

After a weeks-long whodunnit storyline, Lauren was eventually revealed as the killer, with the teenager saving the life of Max Turner after he was threatened by Joel.

The ensuing months have seen Lauren consider her best course of action as she attempted to raise her son behind bars, with the character even considering entering a guilty plea to reduce her sentence.

Max eventually convinced her to fight for justice by entering a plea of not guilty, with the trial set to get underway later this month (January 17) as Lauren begins a hugely significant chapter of her life.

In the upcoming scenes, the trial will begin as the prosecution barrister lays out their case, with their tactic being to besmirch Lauren’s character – namely by branding her a “liar” – and dredge up unsavoury elements of her past.

The case of the defence comes later, with the team going back and forth with their counterparts as Lauren, Bobby and Nina watch on nervously. Life behind bars isn’t too sweet for Lauren either, with fellow inmate Brie spitefully saying that her son would be better off without her.

How will the trial go? And will Lauren be able to juggle the various obstacles she currently faces?…

Whilst Lauren will undergo a draining period, the ITV soap is going through many changes of its own, with Colson Smith and Sue Cleaver – who play Craig Tinker and Eileen Grimshaw, respectively – both announcing their departures earlier this week.

The developments come after Helen Worth exited the soap over the festive period after 50 years in the role of Gail Platt, whilst Luca Toolan made his final appearance as Mason Radcliffe on Monday (January 6) after the character was killed off.