Justin Burton

Hollyoaks character
File:Justin Burton.jpg
Justin Burton
Played by	Chris Fountain
Duration	2003-
Date of Birth	7 August 1989
Marital Status	In a Relationship with Katy Fox
Occupation	--
Family	Michael, Liz, Sophie, Mel, Charlie

Justin "Jay" Burton is a fictional character on the long-running British Channel 4 television soap opera Hollyoaks.

He is played by actor Chris Fountain.

Character history

Arrival

Justin arrived in Hollyoaks with his mother Liz, identical twin sisters Mel and Sophie and Liz's partner Richard Taylor and his children Darlene and Ali. Justin was a moody teenager who found it hard to accept the Taylor clan as part of his family.

Rebelling

Justin’s world was torn apart after he discovered on his mother and Richard’s wedding day that his father had committed suicide, as Justin had thought that he died of a heart attack. Feeling upset and confused by why his father had done this, Justin began smoking cannabis because he thought it might help him with his problems. Justin spent many nights sleeping rough on the streets, and during one of these nights, he went to his father's grave and destroyed his tombstone with a sledgehammer whilst drinking alcohol. When his mother, Liz, returned from her and Richard's honeymoon, she tried to explain to Justin why his father had committed suicide, and why she had hid the truth from him for so long, but Justin didn't want to know anything about it. He called his father a "coward" for not being able to deal with his problems in life, and his mother a "bitch" for hiding the truth from him for so long.

Justin then started misbehaving in school, and stole money from his family to buy cannabis from his new mates. Liz then asked Becca Hayton to tutor Justin at home to improve his school work, but Justin refused to sit through his tutorial sessions. On one occasion, Liz caught Justin smoking cannabis in his room and confronted him about it, but Justin told her to keep out of his room and mind her own business.

Justin bullied his step-brother, Ali, making racial jokes in front of him and the Taylor family. Liz had finally had enough of Justin's attitude and slapped him. Justin went away to live with his Nan, but soon came back home after his Nan caught him smoking cannabis in her house. When Justin arrived back home, he said that he had changed, and tried to convince his mother of this by getting dressed for school only to bunk off with his mates to smoke cannabis. When Liz received a letter from the school saying that Justin had been suspended for not attending, she shouted at him. He then punched her in the face, giving her a black eye. Justin threatened to hurt her again if she told Richard that he had punched her. He continued to steal money from his family behind their backs to buy cannabis.

Justin finally went too far when he ruined his step-sister Darlene's 18th birthday party by telling her boyfriend, Craig Dean, that she had had an affair; this was in fact true. Craig broke up with Darlene, leaving Darlene angry at Justin for exposing her secret. When Darlene shouted at Justin, he got angry and deliberately pushed her through a glass window, hospitalising her. When the family tried to force Justin to apologise to Darlene, he refused. Richard had finally had enough and suggested sending him to a boot camp. Justin was forced to go there; he realized that his mother set him up and told her he wished she was dead.

Boot camp

At boot camp, Justin made friends with a girl called Paula Johnson and they started rebelling against the camp counsellors. However, when one of the counsellors read a letter Darlene had written about him, Justin slowly learnt about the mistakes he had made and realised he had to do a lot of making up to his family.

Justin returned home and tried to convince his family that he has changed for the better, but they needed more evidence. Gradually, Justin began to gain his family's trust as he built a good relationship with Ali and also contributed money towards Darlene’s face operation. He also started developing a crush on his teacher Becca when she started helping him with his GCSEs.

Bullied by Macki

Despite Justin staying out of trouble and studying hard with Becca, trouble was to find Justin as his old friend Macki was hurt that Justin wanted to hang out with Ali instead of him. Macki then started to bully Justin and Ali, calling Ali "monkey boy and trying to frame Justin for a fire he started in the science lab at the school. Macki took a picture of Justin trying to stop him turning on the gas taps before he blew up the lab and sent them to Becca. Justin managed to convince her not to report him until he could clear his name and he eventually found evidence to support his claims and managed to get Macki expelled from school.

Ali and Justin thought their troubles were over, until the next term as Macki returned to school and wanted revenge. The bullying got worse and Macki got Justin beaten up by his friends. Both Justin and Ali decided to keep this to themselves but the situation got out of hand when in a desperate attempt to stop the bullying Justin bought a knife, which Richard found and confiscated.

The deaths of Ali and Macki

Later Ali, having had enough of the bullying, found the knife and went in search of Macki. When Ali found him, he then challenged him to a one-on-one fight and led him to a quiet spot; whilst Ali's back was turned, Macki picked up a brick. Meanwhile Justin found the knife missing and he and Darlene went to find Ali. Justin arrived just in time to see Macki with the brick and warned Ali to look out. Ali turned around and accidentally stabbed Macki. Justin urged Ali to run while he took care of the knife. Ali then ran across the road without looking and got hit by a car. Darlene turned up and called for an ambulance and to protect Ali, Justin hid the knife in the toilets at the hospital, where he was shocked to discover that both Ali and Macki had died. When Justin returned to get the knife he was arrested and accused of Macki’s murder. At first he tried to protect Ali, but when the police let him attend Ali's funeral he confessed to everyone that Ali had stabbed Macki in self-defence. Darlene didn't want to believe her brother was a murderer and accused Justin of lying.

Justin was then remanded to a youth detention centre, where he was bullied by his cellmate. When his cellmate brutally beat him up and knocked his teeth out, he was taken to the dentist where he escaped. He spent a month in hiding and was almost caught twice, first when he made contact with Becca who tried to convince him to turn himself in and again when Mel and Sophie tried to give him some supplies. Both times he escaped capture and when he saw Nicole Owen in the village he asked her to get him some food and she eventually fell for Justin's charms and assumed she and Justin would run away together. However, they had no money for a new life so Nicole phoned Mel and the police followed her. They arrested Justin and he went back to prison to await trial, where he was visited in secret by Becca.

Justin's trial

At the trial Macki's mates made out that Justin was bullying them and Macki, but Justin's lawyer showed the court a video phone on Macki's camera showing Macki's gang beating up Ali. The prosecution also put Justin's cellmate on the stand and he told the court that Justin confessed to Macki's murder. The defence put Nicole and Becca on the stand, and the prosecution insinuated that Becca was having an affair with Justin.

Meanwhile Darlene had seen the video of Macki's gang beating up Ali and realised that if Ali had been bullied that badly that he might have snapped against Macki. Darlene then lied in court that she had seen Ali stabbing Macki. The jury found Justin not guilty and he was freed from prison.

Relationship with Becca

Realising how precious life was, Justin set out to win Becca's love, but Nicole still believed that she and Justin were a couple and went as far as telling the school that she had slept with him. Justin rejected Nicole and told her that she and him were only together "in her head". When Becca confronted Justin about his treatment of Nicole, Justin asked her if she was jealous and they ended up sleeping together on Christmas day 2005. By this time Becca was married to Jake. Justin was the same age as Becca's sister Nancy, with whom he had a brief relationship to make Becca jealous. When Justin informed Becca he was leaving, she begged him to stay in Hollyoaks. They continued their affair and when Becca became pregnant, she was unsure whether Jake or Justin was the father. Becca left Justin after Grace Hutchinson died and decided to stay with Jake to raise "their" baby together rather than run away with Justin. However, Nicole found out about the affair and told Nancy, who told Jake. Jake then attacked Justin at his sisters' 21st birthday party, leaving him with some nasty bruising on his face.

Despite this, Justin and Becca continued their relationship, and Justin moved in with Becca and Nancy after his mother Liz moved to Colchester for a new start (Mel and Sophie also stayed in Hollyoaks). Justin and Becca got into financial troubles when Becca was fired from her teaching job when word got out that she was seeing a schoolboy. They lived off Justin's child benefits and his income from a part-time job at Il Gnosh and Becca got a job at a fast food restaurant. Their relationship became rocky when Justin befriended Sonny Valentine, the local thug. Becca realised how immature Justin was and it was clear he wasn't ready to be a father to her baby.

Break-up

Justin's behaviour became worse after Mel and Sophie died in a fire caused by Sophie's ex-boyfriend Sam Owen. Soon Justin discoved that Sophie's current boyfriend Russ Owen (Sam's brother) was sleeping with Mercedes McQueen when Sophie died. This made Justin's behaviour spiral out of control and he vandalised a mural painted by Nancy's boyfriend Foz for those who died in the fire.

Justin then waited outside the Student Ball with Sonny for Russ to show so he could beat him up, but when student Kris Fisher tried to get them to leave he took out his frustration on him instead. Sonny ran off, while Justin was arrested and spent a night in the cells at the police station.

Justin then proposed to Becca just as she was thinking about dumping him. Feeling sorry for him after his sisters' death she said yes and they became engaged despite Becca's doubts about Justin's capabilities as a father. Soon after, Becca finally dumped Justin after he threatened Jake after seeing him and Becca discussing their divorce. Enraged, Justin got revenge by filing a case against her for having sex with a minor. When the village learned what he had done, everyone turned against Justin and he was kidnapped by Jake, who didn't want his child (if it was his and not Justin's) to grow up in prison. Justin escaped and testified against Becca but decided not to report Jake.

Becca was found guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison where she gave birth to a boy named Charlie.

Living with the Valentines

During Becca's trial, Justin moved in with the Valentines and Sonny's sister Sasha fell for Justin. Justin liked Sasha back and the two shared a kiss, although Justin told her nothing could ever happen between them because of her brother being his mate. Justin also built up a friendship with Sonny's father Leo and the two started drinking and gambling together. This made Sonny's older brother Calvin angry as Justin had told him he would spend his time looking for a new job and home. He also went back to smoking cannabis and when Calvin found his stash, Sasha lied and told him they were hers as she knew that Justin was on thin ice with Calvin already. At the same time that Becca was convicted, a needy Justin had sex with Sasha, who was underage. This led to her wanting a relationship with Justin, but he said she was too young and he didn't care for her in that way.

A father?

Meanwhile Becca decided to let Charlie live with Jake rather than grow up with her in prison. Soon after, Justin saw Charlie with Jake. He later asked Jake's sister Steph what Charlie's name was and Steph told him. A few days later Justin saw Jake's car unlocked outside Drive N' Buy. He and Sonny went joyriding and discovered baby Charlie in the back. Justin held him in his arms and realised that he was Charlie's father, but then put Charlie back in his car seat and fled from the police who brought Charlie back to Jake. Jake guessed that it was Justin who stole the car and confronted him, telling him Charlie was Jake's as he did a paternity test. In actual fact when the results came in, Jake did not open the letter containing the results but told his family that he was Charlie's father only to rip the letter up without reading the results.

On 22 January 2008, Charlie was revealed to have an accute form of leukimia. Distraught at the news, Nancy and Jake pleaded with doctors to run tests to see if either of them were eligible to donate their bone marrow to Charlie. Later, doctors discovered that Jake could not donate bone marrow as he was not Charlie's biological father, confirming that Justin was in fact Charlie's dad. At that stage, Justin still didn't know of Charlie's paternity. On 23 January, Nancy found Justin and told him about being Charlie's dad and the fact that Charlie has leukimia. Justin shrugged it off at first, refusing to believe he was the father. He eventually went to the hospital and was found to be a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant. Charlie will begin chemotherapy.

Becca's death

Justin was befriended by local gangster Warren Fox, who was running The Loft with Clare Cunningham. Warren gave Justin a job and they started "taking stock" by drinking the beverages behind the bar. A drunken Justin confessed to Warren that he had lied about Becca sleeping with him when he was only 15; Warren was disgusted and forced Justin to confess to the police. They started the procedures to release Becca, but meanwhile she had a fight with her cellmate Fran. Becca was stabbed and died in hospital from complications. The next day, Justin asked Jake as to how Becca was doing, at which point a fuming Jake turned to Justin and told him Becca had died, before asking if Justin was happy now. When Justin tried to apologise to Becca's sister, Nancy, she lost it and started attacking Justin, telling him it was his fault that Becca was dead. On the day of Becca's funeral, a devastated Justin went to Mel and Sophie's graves and told them that he had nothing in his life now.

A new relationship

After being thrown out of the Valentine's, Justin was taken in by Warren. However Justin found himself caught up in the feud between Warren and Clare. Clare seduced Justin in an attempt to get him on side and get information on Warren. When Warren found out about this, he took a terrified Justin out to the woods and told him to dig. Justin believed he was digging his own grave, but Warren revealed that it was Sean Kennedy's body and wanted Justin to dig it up for him and put it in a river. Justin did what Warren asked because if he didn't Warren would kill him. The whole ordeal left Justin extremely shaken up and he promised Warren he would not tell anyone.

A new girl then arrived in the village who Justin took an instant like to. Unfortunately she turned out to be Warren's younger sister Katy Fox. Justin tried to avoid Katy but they ended up dating secretly. Katy talked to Louise Summers about her relationship but was upset when Louise told her about Justin's role in Becca's false imprisonment and death. After speaking to Justin about it, Katy saw that Justin had changed and was willing to give their relationship a second chance. However Clare found out about the relationship and told Warren, who beat Justin up.

Hit and run

Justin and Katy planned to run away together, away from Warren. They arranged to meet on the night of Mercedes's hen night of her wedding to Russ, but Justin had to return to Warren's flat to retrieve Mel's bracelet (the friendship bracelet that Sophie had made for her on their 21st). There Justin witnessed Warren in bed with Mercedes before managing to slip out unnoticed.

Shortly after Clare was pushed from the balcony at the Loft, events took another sinister turn when Justin was hit by a van in front of Katy at their meeting point. The next morning, Warren admitted he was driving the van, having discovered Justin and Katy's plan to run away after finding Justin's mobile phone and reading text messages from Katy. Katy stayed with Justin while he was in a coma in hospital and she prayed for him to wake up. When Justin recovered, he and Katy left Hollyoaks together.

Justin had to return to Hollyoaks with Katy to be told what would happen to him after lying in court about Becca. It turned out that the police had dropped the charges and he was free to go. Later, he and Katy went to a club where Nancy was with her friends. After Justin told her that he thought about Becca everyday, she went to slap him, but instead hit Katy, who got in the way. After getting out of the club, Justin told Katy that no-one could replace her, after she got awkward about him saying he still thought about Becca.

Warren's Trial

Justin continued to live with Louise and Katy. As Warren's trial for supposedly pushing Clare commenced, Katy tried to convince Justin to testify on Warrens behalf. Still angry about the hit and run, Justin, together with Clare, came up with a plan for him to leave, telling Katy his mother was ill. On his return, he discover that Warren was released and, despite upsetting Katy, the two continued to resent each other. On Katy's birthday the four went for a meal in Il Gnosh when Warren announced that he and Louise planned to buy the Loft from Clare and asked Justin to work with him. Justin refused at first, but later the two talked and decided that they may not like each other, but for Katy's sake they would work together.

Justin was present when Clare signed the Loft over to Warren and witnessed her telling everyone present what she thought of them. To Justin, Clare said that she was sorry for him as he had become a mini Warren, to which Justin replied that it was better than being a mini Clare. Before leaving Clare told him he that was as worthless as his sisters. Justin then followed her outside and told her that it wasn't fair that she had survived the fall, while Sophie and Mel had died. He then revealed to Clare that he was the one who pushed her the night of the attack. He had returned to the Loft to steal some cash after leaving Warren's and overheard Clare's argument with OB, where she bragged that Mel would still be alive if it wasn't for her (as Mel had been at the Dog to show Clare the evidence of her infidelity) and claimed that Mel and Sophie's deaths were two for the price of one.

Katy kidnapped

With Warren in charge of the Loft, Justin was offered the job of manager, which he took. When Warren threw a party to celebrate his new ownership Justin was curious as to why Katy had not shown up, assuming she was at the apartment. When he and Warren returned, they found the apartment trashed and no sign of Katy

After a desperate search with Clare's husband Max Cunningham, Warren received a phone call from Clare. Clare told Warren that she was holding Katy to punish Justin because he had pushed her. Justin saw Warren's face and ran away from Warren, but Warren pursued followed by Max. When Warren caught up with Justin he got another phone call from Clare who said that if Warren killed Justin he would get Katy back. Warren pretended to kill Justin, but before Clare handed over Katy she wanted to see proof and asked Max to kick him. Justin then got up and ran to save Katy, but before he could, Clare drove off with her in the car over the edge of a quarry into a large lake. Justin and Warren soon followed and managed to rescue Katy before she drowned.

Winning back Katy

Katy's near death experience not only shattered her confidence, but destroyed all the trust she had in Justin. Justin became very depressed as a result and through the help of new friend Danny Valentine tried to win her back through a romantic meal, but failed. Later Danny convinced Justin to come to the college ball to try to win Katy back, but Justin wasn't impressed when he realized that John Paul McQueen was Katy's date for the ball. Near the end of the ball numerous fights broke out, one between John Paul and Nancy. When Justin tried to break up the fight Katy came back from the toilet and assumed that Justin had started the fight.

When Katy was invited to a party in the students' flat, a gas leak rendered the whole party unconscious. When Justin decided to apologize to Katy about the ball, he found them all and saved Katy. Katy then decided to give him another chance. She told Warren that she still loved Justin and that they were back together.

Charlie's father - revealed

On 22 January 2008, Charlie was revealed to have an acute form of leukaemia. Distraught at the news, Nancy and Jake pleaded with doctors to run tests to see if either of them were eligible to donate their bone marrow to Charlie. Later, doctors discovered that Jake could not donate bone marrow as he was not Charlie's biological father, confirming that Justin was in fact Charlie's dad. At that stage, Justin still didn't know of Charlie's paternity. On 23 January, Nancy found Justin and told him about being Charlie's dad and the fact that Charlie has leukaemia. Justin shrugged it off at first, refusing to believe he was the father. He eventually went to the hospital and was found to be a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant.

Family

• Father: Michael Burton (deceased)
• Mother: Liz Burton
• Sisters: Sophie Burton (deceased), Mel Burton (deceased)
• Son: Charlie Dean

Relationships

• Girlfriend: Katy Fox
• Ex Girlfriend : Becca Dean

External links

• Justin Burton on the Hollyoaks website