Jason "Jay" Dowling was a friend of Corey Brent and Eli Higginson and a member of the gang that ultimately killed Seb Franklin.
One night in May 2021, he and two other lads were hanging out at a canalside waste ground where they started to knock back cans of beer. Eli turned up with Corey, Asha Alahan, Kelly Neelan and Summer Spellman in a Volkswagen turbo diesel which Eli stolen from an address where he knew the owners to be away and thus wouldn't know about the theft for several weeks.
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 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 a panicking Nina ran off by herself. Eli and Jay pursued her a short distance down Harper Street where she tripped and fell. The two lads continued their abuse and with a cry of "I'm gonna stamp in it, me!" Jay did just that on the helpless girl with Eli joyfully gleefully joining in. At the same time, Corey conducted a similar attack on Seb which resulted in his death several days later. Eli and Jay 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.
- Played by Mason Hey, the character was unnamed and uncredited in his first appearance. He was named as "Jason Dowling" in Episode 10325 (14th May 2021) and finally credited in his August 2021 appearances which were all flashback sequences using material shown in the May and newly recorded scenes that the actor specially returned for.
List of appearances[]
2021