PC Luke Ashton and PC Dale Smith chase a stabbing suspect onto an estate, but are separated and Ashton is paralysed with fear when confronted by the knife-wielding youth. Smithy is contemptuous of Ashton from that point on, who starts to feel that the rest of the relief is ganging up on him. The stabbing seems to be part of a racially-motivated vendetta between two families on the estate, the Wests and the Cords, but DS Daly and Sgt. Cryer work out that the Jasmine Allen's Estate Manager is behind the harassment. When Doreen West is abducted, the police find her in an empty council flat, but as Smithy pursues the Cord and his accomplice, Ashton stands frozen in fear. Stamp and Quinnan rescue Smith, who is furious with Ashton for not backing him up.