Emmerdale has aired the chilling final moments of one character

Emmerdale has confirmed the demise of Celia Daniels after her reign of terror. In Thursday’s episode of the ITV soap (January 1), now available on ITVX, Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) killed his adoptive mother, Celia (Jaye Gritths), as years of torment and abuse came to light.

Celia made her entrance into the Dales last year, where she was revealed to be running a drug trafficking operation, with her son, Ray, at the helm.

The mother-son duo coerced Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) and his girlfriend, April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan), into distributing illegal substances before April was manipulated into sexual exploitation.

Celia also operated a modern slavery scheme on her farm, forcing Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) to work without pay and keeping him entirely cut off from his son, Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), reports the Daily Star.

Celia and Ray have been causing mayhem in Emmerdale (Image: ITV)

However, Celia’s criminal activities continued when Moira Dingle (Natalie J. Robb) discovered that her business partner had been forging her signature on fraudulent invoices, leading to a significant fallout between the two farmers. Moira is still unaware that Celia’s deceased slave, Anya, is buried on her property.

Celia and Ray have also been extorting money from Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) in an attempt to protect his daughter April from drug dealing and prostitution.

In a shocking turn of events, it was revealed that Ray is also a victim of Celia, who took him in as a young boy and conditioned him to commit heinous acts and crimes.

Ray recently found himself smitten with local darling Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy), sparking a longing for a conventional family life he’d never known. Despite Celia’s disapproval of Laurel, she was unsuccessful in her attempts to split the pair.

Celia Daniels in her final moments of life before she was killed by Ray Walters (Image: ITV)

Earlier this week, Celia commanded her son to eliminate April and Bear before they skipped town to establish a new criminal enterprise elsewhere.

On Thursday, an emotional Ray confessed to his mother that he hadn’t killed April and didn’t believe Bear deserved such a fate. Celia responded by mocking her distraught son, striking him across the face and unleashing a torrent of verbal insults.

The tense standoff concluded when Celia drew Ray into a hug, only for him to plunge a kitchen knife into her back. Moments later, Ray stood over Celia’s lifeless body, marking the end of her reign of terror.

Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX