Jude Lawson

Infobox soap character
name = Jude Lawson
series = Home and Away
portrayer = Ben Steel
first = October 18, 2000
Episode 2933
last = July 18, 2002
Episode 3324
cause =
creator =


caption1 =


caption2 =


caption3 =
nickname =
alias =
gender = Male
born =
death =
age =
occupation = Cleaner
title =
residence = Melbourne
parents = Jill Lawson(mother)
siblings = Noah Lawson(brother, deceased)
spouse =
romances =
children =
grandchildren =
grandparents =
aunts/uncles =
nieces/nephews =
cousins =
relatives =
color = Television colour|Home and Away
color text =
species =

Jude Lawson was a fictional character in the Australian soap opera "Home and Away".Played by Ben Steel, he was a regular on the show from 2000 until 2002.

Character history

Like many Summer Bay residents, Jude had a troubled background. His father had walked out on the family when he was twelve and his mother Jill had become a religious obsessive, believing her two sons were possessed by demons.Jude left as soon as he was able and, once he was old enough to take responsibility for him, went back for his younger brother Noah.He started up a cleaning business in order to support them whilst taking night classes at college in the hope of becoming a lawyer.

Jude also seemed to have ambitions to start a surf shop and while checking out a suitable premises learned it had just been leased as the new Diner.There he met Shauna Bradley, who was in the process of decorating the place.Although she seemed cool towards him, he was obviously instantly smitten and even though she only started spending time with him to avoid her ex Harry Reynolds she soon started feeling the same way.He was a great support to her when she was diagnosed with a heart condition and when her mother Ailsa Stewart died.

No sooner had Jude and Shauna got together than his unstable ex-girlfriend Holly Loader turned up.Jude was shocked to learn she and Noah had slept together while they were going out and seemed to blame his brother, turfing him out of the house while paying for Holly to stay at the caravan park.In the end, he accepted that Holly had taken advantage of Noah and was beyond his help.The Lawsons received another blast from the past when Jill turned up in response to a garbled phone call from Noah.Although Jude had long come to terms with that part of his life, Noah was deeply affected by the subsequent chain of events which resulted in Jill being taken away for psychiatric care.

Jude was also not shy when it came to physical confrontation, stepping in to help when Irene Roberts was being hassled by a group of thugs working for crooked property developer Dennis Scott.

When Shauna started being stalked by one of her students, Kane Phillips, Jude was quick to read him the riot act.When Kane was found beaten up not long afterwards, his brother Scott accused Jude, who was investigated by the police.Shauna found evidence that Scott himself was responsible, which resulted in her being kidnapped by Scott and a reluctant Kane.Acting on information from Nick Smith and Duncan Stewart, Jude raced to the warehouse where she was being held, distracting Scott long enough for Shauna to overpower him.In the aftermath of the incident, he asked Shauna to move in with him.She refused but instead asked him to marry her.

When one of Jude's employees, Anna Miller, died of cancer, Jude ended up taking on responsibility for her son, Seb.He also struck up a strong friendship with Flynn Saunders and so was horrified when Noah and Seb suspected that Flynn and Shauna were having an affair.In fact, Flynn had turned Shauna down and when Jude learned the truth he drove off on his motorbike and crashed, suffering severe injuries and being hospitalised.Not long after, Shauna left town.

The breakdown of his relationship and long recovery period affected Jude badly.He made a pass at his friend Gypsy Nash which neither of them took very seriously.He also began to associate closely with Charlotte Adams, one of his neighbours who had an abusive ex-boyfriend and Alzheimer's sufferer grandmother.

Jude and Charlotte developed feelings for each other and started dating but he was shocked when soon after she fell pregnant with twins, admitting to Noah that although he liked her he didn't love her.Charlotte was prepared to be a single parent until Jude told her that he was committed to her and felt he could come to love her.

However, Charlotte ended up miscarrying both babies.Although the gender had never been established, she and Jude named them Thomas and Constance and held a memorial service with their friends.Jude's world was then rocked when Shauna returned to the Bay to help care for Alf Stewart, who had suffered a heart attack.The pair quickly realised they still had feelings for each other and, despite disapproval from Noah, Jude ended up leaving Charlotte and reuniting with Shauna.The pair then left the Bay together.

Some months later, Charlotte was left in a critical state after a near-drowning and began asking for Jude after seeing a vision of him under water.Josh West arranged to have him flown to the Bay, where he found an increasingly delusional Charlotte believed they were still together and the twins were still alive.Jude went along with the belief and was with Charlotte shortly before she died.

In the aftermath of the incident, Jude learned Charlotte had never altered her will after they split up and he had inherited her entire estate, including her recent two million dollar lottery win.With help from Alf, he used the money to set up a trust account that would finance an orphanage in Vietnam where Charlotte had been planning to go to work before she died.He then left the Bay again to be reunited with Shauna.