Eli Higginson was a disreputable and criminal friend of Corey Brent. He joined his pal, Kelly Neelan and Summer Spellman to hang out in Speed Daal where he made it clear that he fancied Summer and enjoyed stirring up things between Corey and Kelly, teasing his mate about his girlfriend Asha Alahan and the tight control she tried to exert over him.
The next day, he turned up in Victoria Street with a new set of wheels, a Volkswagen turbo diesel which he confessed to Corey had stolen from an address where he knew the owners to be away and thus wouldn't know about the theft for several weeks. Speeding away in it with Corey, Asha and the girls, they made their way to a canalside waste ground where they started to knock back cans of beer along with other lads.
Ill at ease, Asha soon stormed off after falling out with Corey over her jealous attitude towards Kelly. As darkness fell Nina Lucas and Seb Franklin then walked on past by chance. Nina felt protective towards the girls in the company of the drunk lads and stayed, only to earn a barrage of verbal abuse for her goth appearance. Eli was especially aggressive and pushed Kelly into striking Nina. She didn't retaliate but pulled Seb away, sensing the danger signals from the crowd around them. They all gave chase and Eli was instrumental in charging the atmosphere to such a degree that Nina and Seb were viciously assaulted, ending up in Weatherfield General with serious head injuries after the unprovoked attack. Seb died and subsequently Eli and Jay Dowling were charged with GBH while Corey and Kelly were additionally charged with murder.
Nina's memory of the night remained fractured and incomplete until the end of August when a trip back to the scene of the crime resulted in a total recall. On the eve of the trial of the perpetrators, she was able to say with certainty that Eli and Jay had attacked her while Corey was the one who had stamped on and kicked Seb while Kelly tried her best to stop him. Eli testified at Corey and Kelly's trial, supporting Corey's version of events where Kelly was Seb's attacker and Corey tried to stop her. Imran Habeeb, Kelly's solicitor, suggested he was lying to get a reduced sentence. Seb's mother Abi Franklin later discovered that Stefan Brent, Corey's dad, had given Eli's dad Christian a high-ranking position within his own publishing company, suggesting that he had bribed Eli to change his statement. Imran later overheard Stefan and Corey discussing the matter and hinting that Abi's suspicions were correct, however the police came to the conclusion that his employment was above board when they investigated her complaint.
Two months later, the police obtained Corey's clothing which he thought he had disposed of successfully in the River Irwell and conducted forensic examinations on it, which proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Corey had been the true perpetrator. In light of this, Eli was also re-questioned and admitted that he had been coerced into giving false testimony.
- The character's appearances in August 2021 were all flashback sequences using material shown in the May and newly recorded scenes that the actor specially returned for.
List of appearances[]
2021