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Robert "Bobby" Beale (previously Hobbs) is the son of Ian Beale and Laura Beale although he was adopted by Jane Beale. He is also the half-brother of Peter and Lucy Beale as well as the cousin of Lexi and Bianca.

Kill Count

1. Lucy Beale - April 2014: Revealed in February 2015, as he bashed Lucy in the head unmercifully with a jewellery box.

Total count: 1

Storylines

It is initially believed that Bobby was the son of Garry Hobbs because of Laura Beale's drunken fling with him and Ian had had a vasectomy as he didn't want anymore children. Ian throws Laura out because of this, but when Bobby needs a blood transfusion, Garry is the wrong blood group, so Bobby must be Ian's son.

Ian rejects Bobby and Laura, but Garry (who doesn't know the truth of Bobby's paternity) is happy being the father of Bobby. Later in the year after Laura's death, Pat Evans finds Bobby's birth certificate, which it's states Ian is the father after all and Garry is heartbroken. Garry sadly hands Bobby to Ian.

Bobby takes part in the children's talent show, but Bobby cannot sing. Ian invites Bobby's friend, Colin for tea and Jane, who believes it is Bobby, is impressed when she overhears. Dotty Cotton discovers that Bobby is cheating during the contest and unplugs the microphone and Bobby is humiliated.

After when Jane leaves in 2009, Bobby takes it badly and he starts to bully his cousin Tiffany Dean. When Tiffany confronts Bobby while fighting, he shouts at her, and she shout at him back and Ricky and Ian try to restrain their children away from each other. When Ian tries to calm Bobby down, but Bobby yells at him saying he wants his mother and not him and goes missing. Jane returns to help look for Bobby, who says he was looking for her.

In 2010, Shenice Quinn accidentally tells Bobby that Jane has died, but Ian later told him that she was wrong and that he will ring Jane to prove it. Mandy Salter, Ian's new girlfriend, moves in and Bobby starts to like her but he still goes to find his mum Jane. Jane decides to remain in Walford until she starts her new job in Wales.

When Mandy and Ian are about to marry in 2012, Mandy realises she is forcing herself to love Ian and leaves him. Ian later goes missing when he suffers a nervous breakdown, leaving Bobby in his half sister's Lucy. care. Bobby terribly thinks Ian is dead, but Ian returns week later after being homeless, but Lucy rejects him out of her's and Bobby's life, which make Bobby more furious.

When Bobby returns in 2013 for Ian's birthday and Denise Fox gives Bobby some free candles. Bobby also starts to a relationship with Tiffany Butcher and they use walkie talkies in secret. When Bianca trashes Ian's restaurant, he agrees not to go to the police in exchange for their children not seeing each other, but the pair still meet each other in secret. On Bobby's birthday, he and Tiffany finally got caught, and Bianca confronts Tiffany that Bobby's not her type, and Ian is obsessed to Bobby that he's a bright lad, and doesn't want him seeing Tiffany again.

In 2014, Bobby takes part in the school spelling bee and he is delighted when Jane is there. Ian puts pressure on Bobby to do well for Jane, but Bobby gets stuck on a word and runs off stage. Jane isn't happy when she realises that Ian used Bobby so that she would stay, so Jane decides that she will take Bobby to Cardiff and live with her.

Bobby is distraught when his sister, Lucy dies, like the rest of his family. Whilst Ian is grieving, he becomes angry and sends Cindy back to Plymouth to Gina Williams. Ian also tells Bobby that he and Jane are getting back together, which annoys Jane. Bobby understands that his dad is upset and tells him that he is here for him, but Ian snaps and tells Bobby that he will never be Lucy. After a conversation with Shabnam Masood, Bobby arrives at the door and Jane decides to take Bobby away from the square. After Bobby packs his things, he says bye to his dad. Bobby returns for Lucy's funeral.

In November 2014, Bobby has gone missing from Birmingham and a frantic Jane arrives at Ian's and asks where Bobby is. Jane explains how Bobby said he was coming to see him and she put Bobby on a train that morning. Jane then tells Ian he hasn't been answering his phone, but Ian reveals he hadn't heard from Bobby in over a week.

DI Keeble visits the Beale's the following day as she was in the area and she tells Ian and Jane how Bobby set a false e-mail in Ian's name and it seems that he had a plan. She asks Ian and Jane if Bobby had any adult friends from his old place, such as youth workers or teachers and Cindy takes it that she means a peado. Meanwhile at Carol's, she gets a voicemail from Bianca and Carol tells Sonia to check her e-mail, which has a message from Tiffany about Bobby. Carol takes the laptop round to Ian and Jane.

Meanwhile, Masood is passing through Walford Common, when he spots Bobby sleeping in a suitcase. Back at home, the Beale's and DI Keeble watch the video Bobby sent to Tiffany and Carol tells them how Tiffany told Bianca that she and Bobby had planned to runaway to London together.

Jane gets a phone call from Masood and he tells her he found Bobby on the common and the police go to pick him up. Masood tells Bobby that people were worried and Bobby says he wanted to be close to Lucy. When Bobby arrives home, Ian and Jane are delighted.

Jane shows Ian a file of newspaper reports about Lucy's death which Cindy found in Bobby's bag. Jane reveals how Bobby wanted to talk about it, but she wasn't ready for it and she believed Bobby was playing his Harry Potter game whilst in his bedroom. Ian and Jane later discuss it with Bobby and Bobby's reasons for doing it was because he felt no one was doing anything and it was something to do.

Bobby tells Ian and Jane that he hated it in Birmingham with no friends and he hated the school. Ian asks what he is saying and Bobby reveals he wants to come home with Jane. After a conversation with Phil Mitchell, Jane tells Bobby that they are moving back to London.

Bobby is going for a tour ofWalford High School and Jane tells Bobby to borrow a tie of Peter's. When he returns, he tells Ian that it was alright and that it has an astroturf pitch, unlike his previous school and he tells Cindy how he saw a teacher of hers.

When Bobby returns from the cafe with Cindy, he asks his parents if it is true that Peter is a drug dealer. Cindy notices Jane and Bobby's bags packed and Bobby presumes they are going back to Birmingham. Bobby tells Jane he likes it in Walford and being an uncle to Beth. Jane explains to Cindy and Bobby that Peter isn't a drug dealer, but he was trying to protect Lucy from bad people and now Ian won't allow Peter to live with them. 

On the night of Jane and Ian's remarriage, it is revealed in a flashback episode that Bobby had accidentally killed Lucy ten months before, after attacking her with a jewellery box out of frustration at her actions. Jane tells a heartbroken Ian, Peter, and Cindy that she killed Lucy, but Ian realises that she is lying and that Bobby is the culprit.

Jane admits that she had moved Lucy's body, and convinced Bobby that he had not caused Lucy's death. The Beale family (with the exception of a disgusted Peter) then agree to keep the circumstances of Lucy's death a secret from Bobby, the police, and the residents of Walford. Peter later makes peace with Bobby before emigrating to New Zealand.

Afterwards, Bobby continuously walks in between Ian and Jane's conversations about him killing Lucy, where they nervously shake it off and tell him they were discussing something else. When Bobby's half-uncle Ben Mitchell is arrested for Lucy's murder, Jane reveals to Ian that she kept the phone and purse that Ben stole from her. Bobby soon finds them and takes them to the police station, but is stopped by Ben's father Phil Mitchell who sees the objects and takes Bobby back home.

Phil demands of Jane where she got the objects, and as he threatens her, Bobby brandishes a golf club and threatens Phil. Ian rushes in and takes the club from Bobby. Ben is soon released when Lucy's former love interest Max Branning is arrested for the killing. Now convinced that Max killed Lucy, Bobby tries to smash his car with a brick, but is stopped by Cindy and taken home where she berates him as nothing more than a "stupid little boy" which makes Bobby pushed her of and got shocked.

As Bobby loses his temper and pushes Cindy as Jane walks in, causing Cindy to graze her head and land where Lucy died. Cindy snaps at Ian when Bobby leaves the room and her words convince Jane to confess to Carol the truth of Lucy's death. Left alone, Cindy then tells Liam that Bobby had killed Lucy. Bobby is increasingly confused by Jane's behaviour but the revealing video message Cindy sends him is opened by Sharon Mitchell and deleted by Ian.

Bobby is furious when his grandmother Kathy Sullivan returns to Walford and Ian and Jane decide to move her into Bobby's bedroom and move Bobby into Lucy's old bedroom. Jane catches Bobby trying to swap the rooms back in secret and a physical scuffle ensues, which results in Bobby pushing delibately Jane down the stairs.

After she regains consciousness, Kathy arrives and Jane lies that she tripped and fell when helping Bobby move the last items from his bedroom. However, after hearing Kathy and Jane talking later, Bobby accidentally reveals to Kathy that he pushed Jane down the stairs, leaving Kathy shocked at his violent streak. Bobby starts a feud with Sharon's son, Dennis Rickman Jnr, which escalates when Bobby cruelly kills Dennis's pet spider.

Sharon tells Kathy that Bobby is evil and needs help, and Kathy tells Sharon that Bobby pushed Jane down the stairs, so Sharon decides she will report Bobby to the police about Lucy's killing but agrees to wait until after Christmas. Dennis tells Bobby that he killed Lucy, having overheard it from Sharon and Phil. Ian and Jane soon realise that Bobby knows the truth, and Ian does a deal with Phil to stop Sharon going to the police. Bobby then tells Ian what he knows and Ian confirms it is true.

Jane then decides they should go to the police, as they are no longer protecting Bobby from the truth, but Ian comes up with another plan to help Bobby's anger issues and the family agree to send him to boarding school. He leaves late in January after Ian bribes the school to take him early.

In May, Bobby returns home from school for the holidays, happy having won a hockey award. Ian decides against selling the family restaurant when he comes under pressure from the market traders which means they cannot afford to continue paying Bobby's school fees. Bobby overhears Jane talking about this, so he angrily smashes her car wing mirror with his hockey stick.

Ian attempts to get him away but Mick Carter stops him, and Ian accompanies Jane in the ambulance, denying Bobby access. He is later arrested by PC Julian Walsh after confessing to attacking Jane. He later confesses to DS Howard South that he killed Lucy and reveals to DI Samantha Keeble that he has the murder weapon in his school locker. He is released pending charge for Lucy's murder.

Ian rebuked him sharply but Bobby seems genuinely upset about Jane and says that by confessing, he is seeking help. Bobby is later charged with unlawful killing and denied bail by the Youth Court judge. He is kept in a youth detention centre until a preliminary hearing in Crown Court the following week.

In court, Bobby pleads guilty to causing grievous bodily harm upon Jane with intent and unlawfully killing Lucy. He is given a custodial sentence of 3 years for killing Lucy and one year for the attack on Jane with both sentences to run concurrently.

Bobby feels confident he can be released when Ritchie informs him of potential to appeal, but following Jane's wishes, Ian convinces Bobby to avoid doing so, saying that he needs to accept what he did and carry out his punishment like he deserves.

Bobby attacked Jane in May 2016, and she suffered major injuries and nearly died as a result of her injuries, and the doctors told Ian and Steven that Jane will never walk again. Bobby hit Jane with a hockey stick on her head and legs, leaving Sharon, Kathy and Ian finding her unconscious and him confessing minutes later in front of everyone in the Vic.

From mid-June 2016 to early June 2019, Bobby had served a custodial sentence of 3 years imprisonment, 2 for the unlawful killing of Lucy and 1 for the grievous bodily harm with intent of Jane. He feels confident he can be released when Ritchie informs him of potential to appeal, but following Jane's wishes, Ian convinces Bobby to avoid doing so, saying that he needs to accept what he did and carry out his punishment like he deserves. When Jane wants to visit Bobby, Ian tells her that Bobby does not want to see them.

Ian visits Bobby off-screen to inform him of Steven's death and Jane being injured in a fire. When Ian returns from the visit, he informs Kathy that he is disappointed that Bobby did not seem to respond to the news the way he expected and he walked out the visiting room without saying a word. The following month, Max threatens Jane into leaving Walford. However, Kathy's rapist James Willmott-Brown forces Max to ensure that Jane leaves without Ian. Therefore, Max shows Jane a video of Bobby being harassed by someone he does not recognise in his cell, and threatens to harm Bobby if Jane does not leave Walford alone.

Sixteen months later, Ian receives a letter saying that Bobby will be released in a matter of months, but he believes that Bobby will be better off with Jane, however, Kathy encourages Ian to tell Peter that Bobby is coming home and to be a father to Bobby and bring him back to Walford. Bobby is later released from prison and greeted by Kathy at home. However upon returning to Walford, he is not given a warm welcome back by the residents, especially Max for which he never forgave him for watching him being wrongly sent to prison for Bobby's crime, which led to ruining his relationship with his daughters, ultimately causing Abi's death and Lauren's departure.

Bobby meets up with Imran, a friend that he met in the Young Offenders Unit. It is revealed that Bobby is converting to Islam to help find peace in his past. Imran gifts him a Quran. It’s revealed that Bobby will explore the Islamic faith, in order to find peace in his past.

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