In February 2016, along with colleague, PC Daullah, PC Saunders investigated a complaint from Leanne Tilsley that her stepson Simon Barlow had been committing violent attacks. Most of these had been directed at her but the final straw had been when he broke the leg of an opposing player in a schoolboy's match in what was deemed to be a suspicious tackle. Leanne went to Weatherfield Police Station where, with heavy heart, she gave the two officers a history of his outbursts. They duly called at 18a Victoria Street and took the scared and protesting lad away. Ken Barlow sat in with Simon, who was read his rights, while a guilty Leanne waited in reception with Simon's friend and mentor Zeedan Nazir. The officers were sympathetic to Simon who broke down under questioning, admitting that sometimes he couldn't help his actions and went on to demonstrate his lack of control when he had an outburst of anger in the interview room. He was released pending further investigations but the matter was dropped when mobile footage was produced of the tackle showing that it was a valid one and there were no grounds for any complaint from that quarter.
In September of the same year, Saunders and a colleague called on David Platt after a complaint had been levelled against him by Lauren, a schoolgirl who had been ruthlessly bullying his niece Bethany Platt for months. David had lured Lauren into Audrey's for a free haircut and lopped off a very generous chunk of her hair for her pains while he kept the door to the premises locked. David kept his cool and said that he had tried to persuade Lauren not to have such a drastic change for her booked appointment but once the die had been cast she had then grown hysterical at what she had agreed to. A passing Gemma Winter backed up David's lies and said that she was willing to give a statement to the effect. David said the same, while expressing convincing indignation that he hadn't been paid for his work. Saunders issued David with a caution for affray and false imprisonment.
The following March he was part of the team that investigated when someone pushed Ken Barlow down the stairs at 1 Coronation Street. At that time, Pat Phelan was doing work on the kitchen in the house and he and Ken had argued about the slow progress of the work. Daniel Osbourne, who unknown to anyone at the time was the true assailant, had "found" Phelan stood over his unconscious father and the police arrested the builder to formally question him. PC Saunders broke the news of the arrest to Tracy Barlow in order that she could inform the rest of the family. Phelan proved to have an unimpeachable alibi for the actual time of the attack and the police had to search for their culprit elsewhere.
Three months later, Saunders, his colleague John Hall and other officers arrived at a service station to arrest Nathan Curtis following a phone call from a concerned mother after Bethany Platt approached her and her daughter, asking them to phone the police as Nathan was taking her to Hull, trying to make her leave for Belgium, and that she didn't want to go. The manipulative Nathan led a child grooming ring and had ensnared Bethany, making her have sex with his many "friends". Despite being arrested for GBH and sexual exploitation of a child, Nathan was released on bail and was trying to flee with Bethany.
In the December, Saunders investigated a break-in at Nick's Bistro when lovers Kate Connor and Rana Habeeb, conducting a secret assignation there, saw a masked intruder rifling through the till. They knocked them unconscious and fled, calling the police and informing co-owner Robert Preston what had occurred. Robert arrived at the premises before the police arrived and discovered that the thief was none other than his girlfriend and business partner Michelle Connor, trying to stage a break-in to cover for their dire financial situation following Robert's losses of £10,000 at a casino. Kate also realised who the thief was when she recognised a holdall that a fleeing Michelle was carrying as being identical to one carried by the thief. Both she and Robert covered for Michelle when Saunders interviewed them, concocting a plausible tale. The police asked to view the establishment's CCTV and found that it had been switched off. Asking Robert if he had any disgruntled staff, he mentioned Zeedan Nazir who he just sacked after an argument and Saunders called on him at 6 Coronation Street where his alibi was falsely backed up by his wife - Rana. The investigation led nowhere, and the insurance company paid up for the loss.
In May 2018 Saunders interviewed Steve McDonald after he found an unconscious man in the alley off Victoria Street. The man had a cracked head and had also been punched. When he came round, he told the police that he had met several girls including Rana Habeeb and Kate Connor in Deverson's bar and they had taken his words out of context when he was chatting to them. Following them to Victoria Street to apologise, he had been attacked by an Asian male. Saunders also interviewed Kate and Rana who "recognised" the man, Phil Warriner, from the bar but denied any meeting afterwards. With his words showing that he didn't believe their statement, Saunders promised to be back if any further information came to light. The truth of the matter was that Phil and his mates had made unwanted advances on the girls and he had them followed them home to further harass them. Zeedan Nazir had come to their aid when he heard Phil assaulting the girls and laid him out with a punch. The matter went no further but with his own wife Rana leaving him for Kate, Zeedan had had enough of the constant pressures and left Weatherfield to begin afresh in London.
List of appearances[]
2016
2017
2018