This storyline really begins two decades earlier when Jim Latimer was convicted of the murder of Sharon Crosswaithe in 1973. Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) had been one of the people that testified against him, and Jim held a grudge. He was released from prison after eighteen years, and followed Jack and his girlfriend Sarah Connolly (Madeleine Howard) to Kathy Merrick (Malandra Burrows) and Chris Tate's (Peter Amory) wedding. He kidnapped Sarah shortly after the party ended; however, Sarah used her calm intellect to take advantage of the situation. She was eventually released, and Jim was sent back to prison.