sarah cairns, played by alison pargeter, is a barmaid in angie's den nightclub. she first appears when martin fowler (james alexandrou) and his friends pretend to have a stag party to get free drinks. martin gets very drunk and is seen flirting with sarah. the following morning, martin wakes up in sarah's bed. martin admits to sarah that he has made a mistake as he is married, and sarah seems to back off. however, it soon emerges that sarah is mentally unstable and begins stalking martin as well as sending him text messages declaring her love for him. sarah eventually runs in front of a car knowing that martin's wife sonia fowler (natalie cassidy) will see. sonia is a nurse, so she looks after sarah and they become friends. meanwhile, sarah convinces herself that martin loves her and that he will leave sonia to be with her.