Ross arrives in the village in 2007 after being transferred to Hotten Police Station. He is the cousin of Paddy Kirk, the village vet, who he soon moves in with. From the start he gets on well with his colleague and Emmerdale resident Donna Windsor-Dingle, and her husband becomes suspicious. In November 2007, he dumps his girlfriend Kirsty Rayfield - who left her husband for him. In January 2008, he begins dating Lexi Nicholls and Chas Dingle until they learn that he has been seeing both of them and get revenge for his lies by taking photographs of him handcuffed to a bed.