cobbles, but when he dug one up, he dropped it on his toe. He made life difficult for nurse Martin Platt (Sean Wilson) during his hospital visit, and stole drugs from the unlocked trolley. He overdosed and had to have his stomach pumped. He insisted Martin had tried to kill him, and Martin resigned when the hospital believed Les' word over his. After Janice learned that Les was planning to spend the compensation money on a holiday with Jackie Dobbs (Margi Clarke), she told the hospital board Les had taken the medication of his own accord. Toyah began to receive English tuition from Ken Barlow (William Roache), as she wanted to become a writer. Les thought middle-aged Ken was making a move on Toyah and headbutted him. Toyah, sickened by Les and Janice, ran away to London to find who she thought was her real father Ronnie, Neil Flynn (Tim Dantay), who tied her up in his flat. Janice and Les pursued her to the big city and found her after she'd run away from Flynn. Les continued to alienate Toyah, as he beat up her boyfriend Spider and Toyah left home. Les continued to be a problem until Spider, who had begun working for the DSS, discovered Les was claiming benefits whilst working on the canal. Les was forced to leave Toyah and Spider alone. The DSS ultimately discovered Les' duplicity without Spider's help and Les was sentenced to 150 days community service scrubbing graffiti. He teased Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) for being illiterate, so Tyrone got revenge by spraying more graffiti each time Les cleaned a wall, and when Les helped out at a local park, Tyrone removed his rowing boat so that Les was marooned on an island overnight. Janice was disgusted with Les when he drank the money she'd saved for their electricity bill, and the power was cut off. During a holiday in Wales, a young man named Owen Williams made a pass at Janice. She considered his offer, but when Les was electrocuted, she realised she couldn't cheat on him. Owen followed the family back to Weatherfield and asked Janice to join him in Wales. Les beat him up, but Janice had had enough of Les; the final straw was when he gave her a deep freezer for their anniversary. Janice then met Les' friend Dennis Stringer, in late-2001. When 'The Chapter' threw Dennis