Declan Macey

Declan Macey is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, portrayed by Jason Merrells.

Declan made his final appearance on 13 October 2014 after exposing the crimes that he committed with his wife, Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins); she framed her cousin Sam (James Hooton) and his girlfriend Rachel Breckle (Gemma Oaten) for starting a fire at Home Farm – which Declan was responsible for during his attempt to commit suicide after becoming on the verge of financial bankruptcy – before causing the events of Declan embarking on a monthly insurance fraud.

In January 2010, it was announced that former Waterloo Road star Jason Merrells would be joining the cast of Emmerdale as Natasha Wylde's new love interest.

It was announced in October, 2011, that Gaynor Faye had joined the cast as Megan Macey, Declan's half sister.

Declan gets a call from his ex-wife in Singapore telling him that his daughter has been injured in a road accident and he flies out to visit her.

Natasha confesses to Mark's murder and Declan makes Nathan an offer for her share of Home Farm.

Before Ella leaves, she tells Declan that his friend Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) is Mia's father.

Declan and Katie come across John (James Thornton) and Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb) after a serious car accident.

Megan admits that she gave a child up for adoption and Declan finds her son, Robbie Lawson (Jamie Shelton).

Katie recovers, but a shattered pelvis temporarily confines her to a wheelchair and further damage means that her chances of her having any more children are minimal.

This infuriates the villagers, particularly when Declan visits Moira to increase her debts - leaving her devastated, much to Cain and Adam's frustration.

Declan's conflict with Cain and the Barton family is soon exploited by Chas' ex-fiancé, Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) - who, unbeknownst to the villagers, was the one who killed Alex on Christmas Eve 2012.

As Declan heads to the pub with Megan to discuss their situation with the villagers, Adam confronts him over and they again argue in front of Cameron.

Looking for a way out of the damage Declan has caused, he and Charity decide to create a scam so they can claim the insurance money, leading to framing Sam and his girlfriend Rachel Breckle (Gemma Oaten) for the crime.

Their wedding follows weeks later, but is interrupted when Megan, who hates Charity, sets off the fire alarm and hides the rings in an attempt to halt things going ahead.

Incensed, Megan vows revenge on Charity, and takes the chance when Robbie finds an address to the abortion clinic on the sat nav.

When her son Noah (Jack Downham) takes a bottle of wine, he collapses and is taken to hospital, where it is revealed that the drink was laced with pesticide.

A suspicious Declan begins to doubt Charity, but stands by her when she accuses Megan of trying to poison her, because of their long-running feud.

When Megan begs him to come home, he darkly tells her everything is going to be alright, but his unhinged temperament insinuates that he is going to kill Charity.

He goes to the kitchen to find wine, but when Charity approaches him with an axe from behind, he turns around and manages to knock her unconscious with a meat mallet.

After calling Debbie to tell her that she has gone missing, Declan opens the boot, but Charity has come around, kicks him and escapes.

Charity tries to defend herself with a flare gun, but Declan tries to grab it from her, and Megan and Robbie show up to find them fighting.

The police later arrive and locate Robbie's body, leaving Megan devastated, but reveal Declan remains missing.

When Charity offers her Robbie's things, there is a moment of peace, where they talk about Declan, but it becomes apparent Megan hates her more than ever.

On the day of Robbie's funeral, Declan reappears alive having sneaked into Home Farm, where he drugs Charity's drink; she passes out.

Using Charity's phone, he sends a text inviting Debbie, Sam, Jai, Cain, Chas, Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell), Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) and Ashley Thomas (John Middleton) to the house.

He makes his appearance apparently holding Megan and everyone (including Dan when he forces him to) hostage, where he reveals the truth about stitching Rachel up for the house fire and for the crimes that Charity had committed.