Jimmy Clayton was the husband of Ronnie Clayton and owner of Connect Cabs.
On Ronnie's first day working at Street Cars, Jimmy called in while she was out. He told Lloyd Mullaney and Eileen Grimshaw that he had separated from his wife and that if she came looking for a job as a cab driver, that they must not employ her. Jimmy asked if Ronnie had called yet but Lloyd and Eileen both denied that they had seen her in order to protect her from him.
When Steve McDonald returned, Lloyd informed him of Jimmy's visit and advised him that Jimmy seemed like a man who enjoyed getting his own way. The pair initially agreed to sack Ronnie but she later seduced Steve and kept her job.
Jimmy later called at the cab office again and told Lloyd that he knew that Street Cars were employing Ronnie. When Ronnie's voice came through the intercom, Lloyd told Jimmy that Steve had agreed to take her on. Jimmy warned Lloyd that he was trouble and threatened that unless Ronnie was sacked, Street Cars would suffer the consequences. Despite Jimmy's threats and Lloyd's reservations, Steve stuck to his decision and Ronnie continued working at Street Cars. As a result of this, Street Cars became victim to several hoax calls and vandalism, including the word 'scum' being written on Les Battersby's cab.
When Jimmy saw Steve and Ronnie kissing, he followed her into the Rovers and attempted to threaten her into returning home to him. After hearing of Ronnie's confrontation, Steve met with Jimmy at the Weatherfield Arms and tried to reason with Jimmy, explaining that she wouldn't be coming home. Despite Steve believing he had smoothed things over, this only further stoked Jimmy's desire for revenge.
Jimmy continued to cause trouble for Street Cars and visited the firm to look for Steve. Lloyd attempted to make amends with Jimmy by telling him that he was on his side but was offended when he and his girlfriend Kelly Crabtree were the subject of racist remarks from him. Lloyd refused to help Jimmy locate Steve, further escalating the feud between him and Street Cars.
Charlie Fellows, an old client from Connect Cabs, phoned Street Cars and Ronnie insisted on going to get him. Jimmy's son Nick's girlfriend Julie called in the taxi office and warned Eileen that Jimmy was planning to lure her to Wildclough Farm to hurt her.
When Ronnie arrived at the farm, she was shocked to see Nick. When she ran back to try and drive away, Jimmy used his shotgun to shoot the tyres of her cab. Steve arrived at the farm to try and save Ronnie but also had the tyres of his cab shot, causing him to crash into Jimmy's car.
Ronnie was able to talk Jimmy into dropping his shotgun and attempted to try and get him to see sense by listing his low-life activities. She initially agreed to go back with him, telling Steve that he had talked her into believing that he truly cared for her. However, when Lloyd drove into the farm, he was able to knock the shotgun out of Jimmy's hands, leading him to show his true colours and that he didn't really care about Ronnie.
Jimmy and Nick attempted to run Lloyd's cab off the road but they lost control of their car and crashed it into a barn. Jimmy was arrested for his crimes in terrorising Street Cars, however he organised for an associate to break into 12 Coronation Street and leave a Christmas present of an amethyst necklace on the kitchen table, along with a card instructing her to visit him in Strangeways. Ronnie visited him on Boxing Day in order to tell him that she was keeping the £5,000 she'd already taken from him as severance pay, and that she would tell the police of all of his dodgy deals if he tried anything.
List of appearances[]
2005