Freddie Mitchell



Frederick William "Freddie" Mitchell (née Slater) was played by twins  Alex and Tom Kilby. Freddie was conceived in late 2003 when his mother, Little Mo Mitchell, was  raped  by her father's friend,  Graham Foster. Her refusal to abort  the child caused the break-up of her marriage to  Billy Mitchell. Mo went to stay with her sister, Belinda, where she gave birth to Freddie. In November 2004, after Graham was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, Little Mo and Billy made another attempt at their marriage, but they separated again after Billy admitted that he struggled to accept Freddie.

Freddie then lived at the Slater household with Little Mo, his great-grandmother Big Mo, his grandfather  Charlie  and second cousin  Stacey.

In February and March 2006, Freddie caused his mother much stress by crying a lot. He took a trip to the park with his mother, Jane Collins  and  Bobby Beale, where Bobby poked him in the forehead with a stick. Freddie had to go to hospital but was thankfully okay. However, the incident resulted in a visit from a health visitor. Mo thought that the health visitor was accusing her of abusing Freddie and became angry and hostile. Mo struggled to cope with her young son as when he was teething he often cried.

In May 2006, Freddie went to hospital seriously ill with bleeding on the brain. A few days before the hospital admission, Mo had admitted to her boyfriend Oliver, who is also a GP, that she sometimes got very irritated with Freddie when he cried. When Oliver heard that Freddie's injury must have been caused by shaking or rough handling, he admitted what Mo had told him to a paediatrician,  Briony Campbell , at the hospital. While the hospital believed that Mo may have shaken her son, Mo suspected that ten-year-old Ben Mitchell  may have hurt him in some way as they were left unsupervised together just before the incident. Mo went to confront Ben and ended up shaking him in irritation when he tried to run away.

After extensive tests at the hospital, it was discovered that Freddie had a temporary low platelet  count, due to an infection, meaning that any minor injury could hurt him badly, as his blood wasn't clotting properly. Mo was no longer suspected of hurting her son.

Freddie left Walford  on 26 May 2006 with his mother who wanted to start a new life in  Barnstaple,  Devon.