In December, Katie helps Matthew with his ill-fated wedding to her friend Anna De Souza (Emma Davies). However, the ceremony is ruined when Carl - upon discovering that Matthew is partly the reason why their family's company is now under liquidation - confronts him and exposes his brother's involvement in the death of Anna's father Donald (Michael Jayston), who recently died of a heart attack. This prompts Anna to flee, and Katie follows her to comfort whilst Matthew and Carl end up fighting each other shortly afterwards. As Anna struggles to come with the terms of discovering how her father died, Katie urges her to talk to go back to Home Farm and talk to Matthew about it. She reluctantly does on, only to run into Carl upon arriving there. In the moment Anna confronts Carl with demands to know how her father died, they are interrupted by Matthew as the latter attempts to run down Carl in revenge for destroying his wedding and killing their father. However, Matthew - upon seeing Anna standing with Carl - swerves the vehicle and ends up injuring himself as a result; despite Jimmy calling an ambulance with Katie's phone, Matthew dies in Anna's arms. The following day, the Kings are kicked out of Home Farm after being declared bankrupt; Anna later departs the village after attending Matthew's funeral and bidding Katie farewell in respect of their friendship.