Jon Lindsay
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| Jon Lindsay | |
| Occupation | Shop assistant |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Lindsay (1990) Mary Docherty (1994, bigamous) |
| First appearance | 28th May 1997 |
| Last appearance | 17th April 1998 |
| Duration | 1997-1998 |
| Number of appearances | 67 |
| Played by | Owen Aaronovitch |
Jon Lindsay was a fiancee of Deirdre Rachid, later exposed as a conman whose machinations led to Deirdre being sent to prison.
Deidre met Jon at a Weatherfield singles night in The Warwick Hotel in May 1997. An airline pilot, he was charming, intelligent and handsome, and they began to see each other on a regular basis. She had been single since the death of her husband Samir three years earlier. He told her he was a divorcee with a vindictive ex-wife who despised him and who was now living in Devon with a bank manager.
As the weeks went by things became more serious between them in spite of Jon's frequent absences due to his job. Ken's suspicions were aroused when he was at Manchester Airport on an errand for Deirdre to pick up a Sunliners customer; while waiting in the departure lounge he spotted Lindsay working in a tie shop. To confirm his suspicions, Ken paid a second visit to the airport and once again saw Lindsay at the counter in the tie shop. When confronted with this evidence, Lindsay came clean to Deirdre: he told her that he had been forced to retire from his job as a pilot after failing a routine medical due to an ear complaint, but had been too ashamed to admit it to her. Deirdre accepted his explanation and took him back, but thereafter Ken was skeptical of "Captain Lindsay".
Lindsay stressed a desire to live with Deirdre. Apparently they couldn't live at his home because his devious ex wife had sold it from under him as part of their divorce settlement, so they began looking at homes together. The true extent of his scheming then slowly came to the fore. Lindsay had been house sitting for a friend of his, a genuine pilot by the name of Ian Jenkins. With access to his friend's personal effects he began steadily building upon the double life he had created for himself.
By now he was claiming that he had been promoted to the upper echelon of tie shop management and was effectively overseeing the management of most of the branches in the UK. This was a job that kept him away from Deirdre for a considerable amount of time but his absences could now be explained. In fact, while he was away from Deirdre he was actually living with his real wife and children. In contrast to what he had told Deirdre, he appeared to have a happy family life. His family were as oblivious to Deirdre's existence as she was of theirs. Deirdre and his real wife Linda unwittingly met face to face when Linda went to book a holiday at Sunliners. Deirdre noticed that she was married to a Jon Lindsay, but thought it a mere coincidence.
By December 1997 Lindsay and Deirdre were living together in a rather beautiful house a short distance from Weatherfield. There was even talk of marriage on the horizon and during a housewarming party for all Deirdre's friends a wedding date was set. Lindsay's double life then began to unravel. Deirdre finally discovered that he was already married after paying him a surprise visit at the tie shop, only to be told that he was at home with his wife and children. She visited him at his home and confronted him; Jon denied knowing her.
However, Lindsay had applied for a mortgage using a false identity and even had a credit card in Deirdre's name which he had let her use carte blanche. He also signed the house he shared with Deirdre into her name. When the police finally did catch up with him he let her take all the blame. When he was questioned by the police he had a plausible answer for every wrong doing that had occurred. He was meticulous in the way he made sure there could be no come back on him and although he received a suspended sentence from the courts for his part in the fraud it was Deirdre who faced the brunt of the recriminations and received an 18 month prison sentence.
Seemingly in the clear, Lindsay was finally unone when a woman he had duped previously read about the trial in the press and came forward. On that occasion, his deception had gone as far as marriage, meaning he was also a bigamist. Thanks to this information Deirdre was released from jail and walked out a free woman just in time to see the man who had so nearly destroyed her life being led away.
