Gordon O’Neill
Gordon O’Neill (2006)
Andrew Tighe
Episodes: 4256-4267
Marital Status: Grace Carter(divorced)
Children: Tara O’Neill
Occupation: Police officer
The local police superintendant, Gordon first became involved with Summer Bay when his underage daughter Tara claimed that Kim had slept with her. He took a strong personal interest in the case, sensing that Jack and some of the other officers were friends with Kim but insisting his daughter was the victim. When the medical results which would have settled the matter, and the folder (but not the results) turned up in Rachel’s drawer, he insisted on having Kim charged despite the lack of physical evidence.
Gordon continued to push his daughter’s side of the story over the coming weeks and was probably responsible for the high media coverage of Kim’s supposed crime. Morag made an attempt to reason with him, pointing out that both he and Tara could be in trouble if the claims proved to be false, but he was always quick to believe Tara’s latest story. When Rachel went to the house to try and get Tara to drop the complaint, Gordon took out a restraining order against her.
Morag had an insight into the family when she spoke to Gordon’s ex-wife Grace and learned that when Gordon had been promoted he began spending less time at home. When Tara went missing, he had rushed home to deal with it and, believing being in trouble was the only way to get his attention, Tara started inventing more and more crises to get Gordon to spend time with her, including accusing Grace of hitting her. When Tara claimed Lucas had assaulted her, after he had discovered that she stole the medical results that would have cleared Kim, Gordon again instantly believed her.
However, further medical examinations showed Tara had caused her own injuries, by which point Tara had run away. Gordon organized a large police search for her and reluctantly allowed Rachel to take part; ironically, Rachel was the one who found Tara and convinced her to face Gordon’s disappointment. Gordon was last seen with Tara at the hospital as they exchanged apologies.