Stephen Bowyer was a police officer working with the child protection unit who investigated an allegation made by Faye Windass that her adoptive mother Anna, frequently hit her. The background to the complaint was that Faye had recently started to make contact with her birth father, Tim Metcalfe, who she had not seen since she was two years old. Anna and her partner Owen Armstrong didn't approve of the relationship, partly due to the fact that he was easy-going with the rebellious child, leaving Anna in the main to enforce the discipline in her life. When Anna reacted badly and refused to allow Faye any further contact, Faye made the allegation to headmaster Brian Packham.