Kyle was an obnoxious friend of Simon Barlow's having met him on the football team organised by Zeedan Nazir. Although still a young teen, Kyle was older than the other boys and, being cocky and confident in his manner, was looked up to by Simon.
Simon's stepmother, Leanne Tilsley, organised a meal for the boys at Nick's Bistro after one of their practice matches. Steph Britton, a lover of football, gave the lads advice on rehydrating themselves with water instead of coke and lemonade but Kyle wasn't impressed with her words, nor her skill when she tried to demonstrate her "keepy-uppy" abilities and sent the ball into the middle of the boys' table.
Simon, Kyle and another boy, Josh, discussed video games and Kyle boasted that he played Far Cry 4, Halo and Call of Duty, all games which Simon knew to be rated 18+. Kyle went on to tell the gullible lads that a previous night he had sat up until 2.00am playing such games whilst drinking shots of tequila. Simon tried to keep up in the boasting stakes by saying that he liked vodka best and Kyle pressured him into stealing some from behind the bar. They added the beverage to their soft drinks and as the afternoon wore on, became louder and more boisterous. Steph told them to be quiet, telling them that Emily Bishop and Rita Tanner, who were sitting at a nearby table, couldn't hear themselves and Kyle rudely shouted back that in that case they should put their hearing aids in. Leanne started to have a go at Kyle but when Simon rushed to the toilets to be sick, she realised what had been happening and went ballistic at the youngsters demanding to know how they had obtained the drink. Kyle didn't last long before dropping Simon right in it by telling tales on him. Simon was sent home while Leanne rang the parents of Kyle and the others to report what had happened and to have them picked up.
Later that year, Simon bunked off school and called his friends around for a party, including Kyle. At the party, Kyle was playing one of Simon's video games when Leanne arrived home and demanded to know what was going on. Kyle apologised to Leanne on his way out.
The friendship between the two appeared to have deteriorated in the next few months, culminating in a football match where they were now on opposing teams. Leanne was having trouble unknotting the laces on Simon's boots and Kyle had fun at the boy's expense, making derogatory comments from the sidelines and describing him to another boy as just someone who went to the same school as him. During the match, Leanne chatted to manager Tom Finlay on the sidelines and Kyle started ribbing him about her supposed behaviour, asking if she could sink any lower. In the second half, Simon tackled Kyle and broke his leg, standing over the crying boy and telling him he'd deserved it. Despite this, he veered between protesting his innocence and taunting Leanne that the boy had had what was coming to him. Simon had been suffering anger management issues for some months and this prompted her to report her stepson to the police, especially after hearing that Kyle might not ever play football again as a result of his injury. It was only when another parent came forward with mobile phone footage that Simon's claim that it was an accident was shown to be true.
 |
List of appearances[]
2015
2016
2020