Remorseful villainess Cathy Sinclair
Catherine Sinclair (Neve McIntosh) is the main villainess from New Tricks' ninth season finale, "Glasgow UCOS" (airdate 29 October 2012). She is a restaurant owner who was approached by Gerry Standing and Steve McAndrew regarding the murder of James Soutar in 1993.
Cathy's backstory revealed that she was raised in care, and as she informed Gerry and Steve, she had lived a life that consisted of drugs, alcohol, and underage sex, but she worked to atone from her wild ways. She was asked about Soutar because she was the recipient of £15,000 in Soutar's will, though Cathy had stated that she had never met him. In actuality, Cathy had encountered Soutar all those years ago, and the reveal came after white roses were found on Soutar's grave by Gerry, Steve, and DCI Fiona MacDougall--as MacDougall was visiting Soutar's grave but stated that she didn't put the roses there.
The episode's progression revealed that Cathy was one of five girls being used as escorts in a sex ring run by Helen Wray, with the others being Sally Carmichael, Gemma O'Neill, Fionnula McCalliog and Moira Biggar. It was led to believe that Soutar was one of the ring's customers, but he was actually working to save the women, and he approached Cathy looking to rescue her as well. However, Cathy didn't believe Soutar's claims, as she had believed that Soutar had killed Gemma (Cathy's good friend) and the others. On the day in question, Soutar approached Cathy and stated that he knew about Helen's actions and wanted to help Cathy, who set up a meeting at a bus station. In actuality, Cathy saw Soutar's statements as confirmation that Gemma was deceased, and she arrived at the station with a rounders bat from her school, which she used to beat Soutar to death.
A few months later, though, Cathy had received the £15,000 that Soutar sent her before his death, leaving her wondering why she received the money. It was years later that she spotted Gemma in Aberdeen, making Cathy realize that not only was Soutar genuine in his quest to save Gemma and the others (which he successfully did), but she had killed a truly innocent man as well. This led Cathy to work hard to atone for everything, mainly killing Soutar, and she expressed pride that UCOS was at her restaurant, so she could turn herself in. Cathy was arrested, with MacDougall informing Steve that she would get her the best defense lawyer in Scotland.
Trivia[]
- Neve McIntosh later appeared on Death in Paradise as the evil Nicky Hoskins.