Stanley Fowler

Stanley Fowler was local bad boy-made good who offered Jacko Ford a job as a live-in chauffeur and handyman in January 1973. He had read a story by journalist Clive Shawcross in the Weatherfield Gazette which detailed how Jacko had spent two months in Risley Remand Centre, supposedly for a burglary from Benny Lewis's flat, which was later on proved to be the work of villain Franny Slater.

Shawcross's story, which focused on similar miscarriages of justice, struck a chord with Fowler who in his youth had himself done time in prison. He had managed to amass enough money to live in the upmarket Oakhill area and to employ Jacko, giving him his own living space above the garage. Jacko's daughter, Norma, had reservations about the move as she wanted to keep an eye on her wayward father but when he explained Fowler's motives her fears evaporated and Jacko happily took the position.