DS Clarke

DS Clarke was the police officer who investigated a case perpetrated by Duncan Radfield and his wife May who involved Sally Metcalfe taking a part of the rap and spending two months Norcross Prison from November 2018.

The background to the case was May's health and a stroke she had suffered which led her and her husband with heavy medical bills. They decided to fake her death and while she was living in Costa Rica they would submit a false life insurance claim. Even after this there was a funding gap which, unknown to May, Duncan decided to fill by approaching Sally in her role of Mayor of Weatherfield to request her help with a grant in the sum of £40,000 for a charity he wished to set up in his "deceased" wife's name. Sally fell for the scam which led to the funds being channelled through a false bank account. To her horror, she found that Duncan had laid an elaborate trail which led straight back to her as his co-accomplice and his supposed extra-marital lover.

After being arrested, Imran Habeeb acted as Duncan's solicitor and drafted a statement for DS Clarke which detailed the fraud which Sally supposedly master-minded, apparently blackmailing Duncan with a threat of sexual harassment if he didn't comply with her. He also supplied a burner phone with a series of texts from Sally which documented the affair and the scam. Clarke subsequently arrested Sally for fraud, bribery and money laundering while she was hosting a charity event for Jack Webster at Speed Daal and he produced a warrant to search No.4 for further evidence.

Clarke interviewed Sally at Weatherfield Police Station where she was shown the texts from the burner phone which pointed to her guilt and the sum of £1,000 which had been placed in her account by Duncan from the stolen funds. Sally was charged and appeared in court in November where she received a four-year sentence after the evidence presented appeared to make her the more guilty of the two parties.

Determined to set Sally free, her family began their own investigations which led Gina Seddon to finding out that May was still alive and answering the phone to calls in Costa Rica. Tim provided the evidence to Clarke who promised to look into the allegations, involving Interpol in the process. His findings were that the number provided was for an empty house with no evidence that May was still alive and no extradition treaty in place should she surface.

The breakthrough came when Duncan was badly injured when knocked down by a van, bringing May rushing back to Weatherfield to see him. Gina told the unsuspecting woman of the extra steps her husband had taken behind her back which had led to Sally's imprisonment. She persuaded her husband to confess and DS Clarke came to the street to tell Tim and Sophie Webster the good news that they could now pursue the appropriate legal channels to get Sally freed as soon as possible.

List of appearances
2018 2019
 * Fri 10th Aug (2)
 * Mon 13th Aug (1)
 * Mon 13th Aug (2)
 * Wed 9th Jan (1)
 * Wed 9th Jan (2)
 * Mon 14th Jan (2)