Paul Connor (Coronation Street)

Paul Connor was a fictional character in the British ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street, played by Sean Gallagher.

Profile

Paul Connor first appeared in Weatherfield on September 6 2006, when his brother Liam contacted him about Adam Barlow wanting to sell his share of Underworld. Paul's wife Carla arrived later.

Paul and Liam were the brothers of barmaid Michelle Connor's brothers, Paul being the elder and a much darker character than his younger sibling Liam. After Liam purchased Adam's share of the factory, Paul (who had provided most of the finance) took over Underworld with Liam, spending all of his wife's children's clothing business's money. This led to a furious row between Paul and Carla.

Paul was spying on Frankie and Jamie Baldwin and had kept contact with Danny Baldwin. It was he who informed Danny when Frankie and Jamie split up. Soon he was revealed as the new partner in Underworld, having purchased Danny's 60% share.

When his nephew Ryan Connor was arrested for joy-riding, Paul violently attacked him upon his return from the police station. Consequently, Carla suspected that Paul was hiding a dark secret from her. The secret, eventually revealed by Liam, was that Paul was responsible for the accident in which Michelle's late partner, Dean, had died. It was Paul, not Dean, who had been driving. He, with Liam's help, had moved Dean's body to the driver's seat to avoid arrest for drink driving.

Paul proved himself to be an accomplished schemer by covering up the death of Polish worker Kasia. He claimed that she had died in the day shift when she was actually working illegally at night. Some of the factory staff were suspicious of Paul and Carla.

Eventually, Liam confessed the truth about Dean's demise to a devastated Michelle, who angrily disowned both her brothers.

In May 2007, Paul hired an escort but when Leanne Battersby arrived, he was shocked to discover that his brother's love interest was in fact a prostitute. To avoid discovery of their secrets, they mutually agreed to say nothing, but Paul grew frustrated as he watched his beloved brother grow closer to Leanne. Knowing that informing Liam of Leanne's identity as an escort would wreck his marriage to Carla, Paul instead claimed that Leanne was a gold-digger, but Liam ignored his brother's warnings.

Paul became even more uncomfortable with the situation involving Leanne as she went into business with his wife Carla. This led to Carla uncovering Leanne's sordid secret.

Death

After discovering the truth about Leanne, Carla suspected that Paul was one of her clients and after this was confirmed his marriage to Carla ended. An enraged Paul blamed Leanne and he took violent revenge by locking her in the boot of his car and speeding off with the intention of telling his brother Liam.

Paul lost concentration and the car crashed into a lorry. Both he and Leanne were rushed to hospital. Leanne survived, but Paul's injuries were too severe. Paul died with Carla and Liam by his bedside. Carla and Liam both blamed Leanne for her part in the accident.

In May 2008, brother Liam and wife Maria were about to have their first baby boy, whom they were going to name Paul, after Liam's deceased brother, but their son was stillborn.