Daniel 'Dan' Morrisey was a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in the defunct Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Brookside

Brookside

Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...

. He was a boyfriend of Ruth Smith until it came to light that he had been abusing her son Luke. Dan Morrisey is no relation to the Brookside character Susannah Morrisey

Susannah Morrisey

Susannah Morrisey is a fictional character in the defunct Channel 4 soap opera Brookside. She was portrayed by Karen Drury from 1991 until the character's death in 2000...

.

Introduction

The Gordon family moved onto Brookside Close in 2002. The eldest daughter Ruth had a son, Luke with her previous husband Sean Smith. Ruth and Sean had already split by the time they moved onto the Close.

Ruth first appeared with a black eye after fighting with husband Sean after he had discovered her affair with ex-boyfriend Dan Morrisey. In sympathy Alan and Debbie allowed Ruth to stay but were somewhat put out when Dan came to stay as well.

Relationship with Luke

Dan felt nothing bus resentment for his new step-son Luke. He resented him interrupting his time with Ruth and resented having to look after him while Ruth worked.

At the time Ruth and Sean were engaged in a custody battle over Luke. Debbie became concerned about bruises appearing on Luke and wrongly assumed they must have come from Sean.

After the Alan went missing and was found dead in Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

, Ruth and Dan started taking charge of the Gordon household, a role which Dan did not seem to eager to take on and one he would use to vent his frustrations on Luke.

After a confrontation between Dan and Sean over Dan's treatment of Luke, Luke chased off after Sean as he was leaving in his van. Dan violently pulled him back, this however was seen by Sean who got out of his van and punched Dan to the ground. Later as punishment for Luke Dan made him stand behind the curtain and refused to allow him to use the lavatory.

Physical abuse

Dan became constantly frustrated with Luke not obeying his directions and became very forthright about punishing him. After luke complained about the water in the shower being too cold, Dan deliberatly scolded him and then blamed the incident on a faulty shower, something Ruth believed. Sean however was less than satisfied with this explanation and refused to believe it was an accident.

Ali was later shocked to see that Luke had wet himself behind the curtain and that Luke appeared frightened of Dan. Dan explained that the fight had made Luke wet himself but Ali wasn't convinced by this explanation. When Ruth arrived home she argued with Dan over him disciplining his son.

Dan continued to victimise Luke openly blaming him for being stuck in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. The tension became too much for Luke and he knocked his food on the floor. Dan insisted he eat it from the floor like a dog, when Luke refused Dan locked him out in the rain. Ruth found out and was annoyed but after Dan threatened to leave she forgave him.

Later, Luke stayed with Dan and accidentally knocked over a bottle of milk. Dan started shouting at Luke. Ali and Stuart had come to see Luke and heard the shouting, confronting Dan about it. Later when Luke told Ruth that Dan had hit him it became the final straw and she realised she couldn't trust Dan with her son and she left him.