DS Tony Trafford

Detective Sergeant Tony Trafford was involved in three police investigations involving the residents of Coronation Street.

In October 2001, Eve Elliott grew increasingly concerned about the disappearance of her daughter Linda Baldwin who had last been seen at her wedding to Fred Elliott the previous month. Husband Mike Baldwin had thrown her out of the country hotel where the ceremony was taking place when he had witnessed her trying to resurrect her affair with his son Mark Redman. Several weeks had passed with no one hearing a word from her and Eve suspected something had happened to her and Mike had something to do with it. She heard that Ashley Peacock had witnessed Mike hitting Linda before Mark stepped in and stopped him and she insisted that he come with her and give a statement to the police. DS Trafford showed little concern at the latest development but when Linda's car was found in the River Naven a couple of days later, he began to show more interest and Mike was questioned, firstly in the factory when he said that the last time he had seen his wife was in his flat when she returned for his passport. Shortly after this interview, Mike was forced to sack Linda's brother Ryan Sykes, for fiddling expenses and, in revenge, he concocted a story that Mike had threatened to kill Linda when he discovered her affair with factory manager Harvey Reuben. Although suspicious as to why Ryan hadn't come forward with this story sooner, Trafford took Mike to the police station and he and DC Ann Short questioned him at length while other officers searched his flat. When they found Linda's passport, Mike told them that he'd invented the story of Linda coming for it to shut the gossip-mongers up. Mike was held overnight and interrogated at length but eventually released for lack of hard evidence. The following April, Linda got word back through her father Ray that she was alive and well in Dublin and all further talk of murder ceased once the police were informed.

Two months prior to that, Trafford was the officer sent to the scene of The Ridings flat development when Duggie Ferguson's body had been found by Richard and Gail Hillman, Richard knowing full well that he would be lying there as he was present the evening before when he fell to his death in an argument between the two men over the cost of the refurbishments. Richard had then taken the opportunity to steal money from Duggie's safe to tide over his own failing business concerns. The police investigated the matter from a health and safety perspective and Trafford told a relieved Richard that didn't see anything suspicious in the death.

By the following January, Richard had descended into murder to protect his interests. Keen to take advantage of an equity release scheme on 3 Coronation Street that Emily Bishop had entered into, he attempted to bludgeon the old lady to death and was forced to kill Maxine Peacock when she interrupted his crime. The investigation was led by DI Mannery and Trafford assisted by questioning the residents about anything suspicious that they may had seen on the night of the murder. Richard took the opportunity to drop the name of Aidan Critchley into the conversation as he had set him up for the crimes. Later on, in Roy’s Rolls, Peter Barlow told the two officers that he’d noticed a faint light in the vacant hardware shop on Victoria Street. Trafford and his colleague DC Beecroft led a raid on the squat and found Aidan there with items from the Peacock’s house in his possession, all planted by Hillman. He tried to make a break for it but was quickly caught and taken to the station by the officers, all watched by a gloating Richard. His last act in the drama was to question Sarah Louise Platt and confirm that Aidan had had alcohol with him at the squat as he had claimed to be drunk at the time and remember nothing.

List of appearances

 * Episode 5129 (10th October 2001)
 * Episode 5131 (14th October 2001)
 * Episode 5132 (15th October 2001)
 * Episode 5134 (18th October 2001)
 * Episode 5135 (19th October 2001)
 * Episode 5136 (21st October 2001)
 * Episode 5137 (22nd October 2001)
 * Episode 5145 (2nd November 2001)
 * Episode 5209 (6th February 2002)
 * Episode 5210 (8th February 2002)
 * Episode 5420 (15th January 2003)
 * Episode 5421 (17th January 2003)