In the early-to-mid 1990s, Jimmy became an integral part of the storylines. First he suffered from a drug addiction, which nearly destroyed his marriage to Jackie (Sue Jenkins). He had numerous jobs, including a barman and bouncer at "Bar Brookie", working for Mick Johnson (Louis Emerick) in his pizza takeaway, a cleaner in a school, and ultimately a history teacher at his local school. In November 1993, Jimmy's contacts were starting to get arrested and he decided to flee the close. When driving, he took a hit of cocaine to steady his nerves; however, this seriously affected his driving, and he caused neighbour Frank Rogers (Peter Christian) to swerve off a road and crash. Frank, who had just married Lyn Matthews (Sharon Power), was badly injured, and died just after arriving at the hospital. Jimmy had driven some of the relatives to hospital, and when they arrived he learnt that Frank had just died and that Tony Dixon (Mark Lennock) was in a serious condition.