On the request of Peter's stepmother Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride), Liz goes to visit Jim in order to stop him from harming Peter further. Jim turns to blackmail as he tells Liz that he will lay off Peter as long as she continues to see him. Liz complies, although when her boyfriend Tony Stewart (Terence Maynard) breaks off with her, she tells Jim that it is over and leaves the prison. When Liz tells Jim it will be her last visit, Jim reveals that he will soon be transferred to an open prison, which would allow him to be closer to the family and even return for visits to the street. Liz is disgusted and tells Steve that he has been using them both all along, since he knew full well that he would soon be out of there. An angry Steve arranges a visit and confronts Jim. Jim attempts to convince him that he was only trying to get his family back and that his heart was in the right place, but Steve furiously retorts that he has harmed numerous people along the way, including beating Peter up and blackmailing Liz. He grasses Jim up, revealing to officers that he had been using a mobile phone to harass Liz, which ruins his chances of being moved to an open prison. Jim is apoplectic with rage and has to be restrained by the police whilst threatening Steve with revenge. Steve, however, is not fazed and brands his father a "joke". It is to be believed that his sentence was extended because of his illegal actions.