Leanna Cavanagh: Her sad family history and tragic murder

Leanna Cavanagh seemed like the girl who had it all – a doting father, a handsome boyfriend, and big plans for her bright future.

But her life was cruelly taken away when she was murdered by Dales serial killer Meena Jutla.

So what was Leanna’s story and what happened to her?

Early days in Emmerdale for Leanna Cavanagh

Leanna was introduced to the Emmerdale viewers in early 2018, as the troubled teenage daughter of Dr Liam Cavanagh.

As a little girl, Leanna had lost her mum, and though when she was first on screen she was mean and unkind, her backstory made her seem more sympathetic.

Jacob and Leanna

Leanna and Jacob hit it off straightaway but their first night together ended in disaster, when Jacob was nasty to Leanna.

They did reconcile, but Jacob went to stay in Portugal for a while, leaving Leanna feeling lonely.

Making friends – or not!

Leanna was a difficult person to like at first. She used Amelia Spencer’s disappearance to her advantage and when Amelia returned, made her life difficult and bullied her.

And she started a rivalry with Gabby, too, trying to get her fired from her job as a waitress.

Leanne causes trouble for dad Liam Cavanagh in Emmerdale

Of course, the real focus of Leanna’s scheming and troublemaking was always her dad’s partners.

She loathed Maya Stepney – her dad’s partner who cheated with David Metcalfe (and who later groomed and abused Jacob).

And she also took against Bernice – Liam’s new girlfriend – taking increasingly nasty steps to cause trouble for her.

But when Leanna made snide remarks that encouraged Bernice to buy dodgy Botox online, things began to change.

Sad story

Bernice had an anaphylactic shock reaction to the Botox, she nearly died. Leanna’s mother died from an allergic reaction, and the storyline revealed a new side to the troublesome teenager.

After that, Bernice and Leanna rubbed along quite nicely – until Liam snogged Leyla!

Leanna tried her best to split her dad and Leyla, until she succeeded, when she did an about-turn and focused all her attention on getting them back together!

Leanna’s death

By summer 2021, Leanna had become a much more popular member of the Emmerdale community. She was happily loved-up with Jacob, and the pair were planning to go travelling.

On the day of Leanna’s 18th birthday, stepmum Leyla was getting a party ready for Leanna.

But unfortunately for Leanna, she discovered that Meena was the one who’d stolen the money from the Pride event. And then she worked out that Meena had killed her friend Nadine, too.

Underestimating just how dangerous Meena was, Leanna legged it with the Dales killer in hot pursuit.

After a confrontation on the bridge between the pair, Meena threw her former friend over the wall and sent her crashing into the river.

What happened to murderous Meena?

Meena went on to kill Andrea Tate and Ben Tucker. After a LOT of drama she was eventually apprehended and is currently in prison for life.

Who played Leanna Cavanagh in Emmerdale?

Leanna was played by actress and model Mimi Slinger. She’s since appeared in Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ and has signed with modelling agency Storm.

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.

Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.