The Villains were two men sent by Jez Quigley to rob the Rovers Return Inn of its takings on the night of the Street's Millennium party. Leanne Battersby owed Jez £200 for drugs she bought from him following her brief descent into addiction and, unable to pay him back, she agreed to leave the door of the pub unlocked in order that his men could enter with ease. After a last minute conscience attack, she tried to persuade Jez to call off the robbery, even sleeping with him in the attempt, but he sent the men anyway. Leanne tried to stop them and she and landlady Natalie Barnes were attacked. The men got away, even after a futile attempt by Vinny Sorrell to stop them and Leanne was left knocked badly unconscious.