Maria de Costa (also Leys) made her first appearance on 11 December 2008. She is portrayed by Judy Browne.
Storylines[]
Maria first appears when she visits Whitney Dean following her abuse by Tony King. She later informs Tanya Branning that her daughter Lauren Branning wanted to remain in care. She visits Stacey Branning and her baby Lily Branning, and notes that Stacey appears agitated. She visits Stacey again after Janine Malloy reports Stacey for neglecting Lily. However, Maria concludes that Lily is not being neglected. She returns and comes to see Stacey for a home visit, not knowing that Stacey has gone missing with Lily. She visits again where Ryan Malloy pretends to be Stacey's partner. Maria is so impressed that she says she will not need to visit Stacey again. Maria returns in March 2012 to take custody of George Trott after the death of his mother, Heather Trott. She later returns George to Shirley Carter, who is George's godmother, while Social Services try to locate George's father, Darren Miller. A week later she returns to collect George to reunite him with Darren.
List of Appeared[]
- Episode 3697 (11 December 2008)
- Episode 3723 (20 January 2009)
- Episode 3769 (10 April 2009)
- Episode 4069 (13 September 2010)
- Episode 4079 (30 September 2010)
- Episode 4109 (23 November 2010)
- Episode 4117 (6 December 2010)
- Episode 4397 (22 March 2012)
- Episode 4399 (27 March 2012)
- Episode 4406 (9 April 2012)