Darryl Braxton

Stephen Peacocke

Darryl “Brax” Braxton (2011-2015; 2016)
Stephen Peacocke
Episodes: 52336213; 6350; 63606362; 64416442

Parents: Danny (deceased) & Cheryl Braxton
Siblings: Heath Braxton; KyleCasey Braxton (deceased) (both half)
Children: Casey Braxton

Occupation: Restaurant owner; Gym owner


Brax was the leader of a gang of surfers from Mangrove River called the River Boys and was known to Angelo and Charlie. He attended the singles’ night at Angelo’s restaurant and objected to his brother Heath being arrested after Miles was assaulted during a brawl. The next day, he, Heath and his other brother Casey approached Romeo and told them Miles should let them handle the matter themselves. He went to see Angelo at the restaurant and offered to help him out by getting him some cheap alcohol, which Angelo eventually agreed to. Brax asked for a share of the profits as payment.

Brax found himself having a lot of dealings with Charlie as she accused him and his friends of being involved in vandalism at the surf club or VJ having a surfing accident. He made up for the latter by buying VJ a surf board, although he took Leah’s side when she warned VJ about surfing in dangerous places, and taking Leah out for dinner, where he questioned her about Charlie. He suggested Angelo go into selling gourmet pizzas and offered to invest in the restaurant. When John ordered the River Boys out of the surf club, Brax told Heath to comply but warned John he’d made things worse. He refused to leave the next time John asked, resulting in the police being called. When Charlie took him outside for a word with him in private, he kissed her and she arrested him for assaulting a police officer but his lawyer, Cameron Sangster, soon had him released and also issued an injunction against John for stopping the River Boys using the surf club. Charlie also learned Brax’s alcohol, which she had thought was stolen, had been repayment for a loan to a struggling shop owner.

Brax asked Charlie to let Casey and Ruby keep seeing each other and gave her advice on how to handle Ruby. He was annoyed when Brodie hijacked Colleen’s caravan and handed out his own brand of punishment to him as well as making him pay compensation. He overheard Charlie and Angelo discussing him so let Angelo think he was arranging a drugs drop with Brodie, only for Charlie to turn up and find Brodie buying jelly beans. Brax told Angelo it was a test and he wouldn’t get a second chance. He asked Angelo to set up tabs for some of his friends at the restaurant, then used them as an excuse to launder money through the restaurant. He also put Angelo’s back up when he began discussing business ideas with Roo without consulting him and Angelo presented him with a payment plan to get Brax out of the business. He reluctantly agreed to Casey taking a job as a delivery boy at the restaurant along with Xavier. He kept an eye on Elijah when he got drunk at the restaurant after Grace was deported.

Charlie agreed to attend a family barbeque but Brax uninvited her when she made a comment about Cheryl, only relenting when she admitted Ruby had had a go at her. When Ruby and Casey broke into a holiday mansion to hold a party and Casey was arrested, Brax retrieved Ruby’s bag from the scene and told Charlie he’d make a statement about finding it if she didn’t drop the case. Charlie called his bluff and he was astounded she’d let her daughter be charged but the case was dropped through lack of evidence anyway. Brax went round to see Charlie and kissed her, after which they slept together. Charlie asked him to leave afterwards and pulled out of the family barbeque, telling him a relationship between them couldn’t work.

However, after Brax had helped Cathy, a woman whose family were living in a car, and found her a job, Charlie went round to the restaurant and kissed him. They were soon seeing each other in secret but Charlie insisted they couldn’t go public because of their positions, with them having to endure a family picnic when Ruby and Casey set them up to try and make them get along. When Charlie told him they’d had a complaint that the River Boys were selling drugs at the surf club, Brax confronted Heath and warned him not to ruin the good thing they had going with the restaurant. He was disappointed when Charlie arranged a date through a dating site but she cancelled it and spent the evening with him at the restaurant instead, after which they had a liaison on the beach. When a brawl broke out between the Summer Bay and Mangrove River supporters at the surf carnival, Brax helped Charlie break it up but didn’t give any information when Charlie was hit with a bottle.

Having cottoned on to Brax’s money laundering, Angelo followed him, Heath and Brodie to the national park, where they claimed they were shooting pigs. Brax realised Angelo had followed them when he saw he had a dog bite from their guard dog. He invited Angelo along for some pig shooting and, when he accepted, Brax and the others shot at him and chased him in their jeep, before claiming they had been going after a pig and Angelo should be careful of accidents. In fact, Brax and the others had set up a marijuana plantation in the area. While Brax was with Charlie, Angelo stumbled upon it and was clubbed unconscious by Heath. Brax cleared up the evidence and got Brodie to dump Angelo at the hospital and torch his car, then helped explain away the events to a suspicious Charlie. However, he was unable to renew the lease at the restaurant without Angelo’s signature.

When the police found security camera footage of Brodie dumping Angelo and he was found in possession of drugs, Brax realised Brodie had stolen drugs from him and set him up, sending him to do a drug deal and then sending Charlie after him. Brodie avoided the police and threatened Brax with a gun but Brax persuaded him to take the blame. However, Brodie then escaped from jail and demanded Brax get him out of the area, especially when he found out about Brax and Charlie’s relationship. Brax sent Charlie on a wild goose chase to Keith Irwin’s farmhouse, claiming there were lorries loading up a large quantity of drugs there, then took Brodie to where a truck was waiting to take him out of the area and told him never to come back.

Brax spent Charlie’s birthday with her and presented her with a necklace. At her birthday party at the restaurant, she came close to making their relationship public, while Brax was annoyed at seeing one of the River Boys, Pee Wee, wearing an expensive watch and had Heath beat him up. Angelo had set up a security camera in the restaurant and recorded both Brax ordering the beating and Brax with Charlie. He confronted Brax and told him that he’d show Charlie the tape if Brax didn’t buy him out of the restaurant so Brax used the last of his and Heath’s savings to comply. Charlie was worried about Angelo knowing and ended their relationship but changed her mind a few days later.

Brax was furious with Heath when he used Casey as a courier to hire Romeo’s boat to transfer the drugs to their contact in the city. When Charlie started asking questions about the boat hire, Brax told Heath to let the other River Boys take the trip alone in case something went wrong and the boat was intercepted by the police. When Charlie tried to talk to him about Casey and the other teens going surfing at the notorious Nelson’s Noose, Brax didn’t see a problem, since he’d surfed there plenty of times. He worried about the consequences of Heath’s fling with Bianca and, when Bianca sent Charlie a text telling her Heath was at the house, he deleted it before Charlie could see it then went round to the house himself, claiming he’d seen Heath’s car outside, and helped defuse the situation. He refused to apologise for his actions, saying Charlie getting involved would have made things worse. When he found out Casey had quit school and taken a job at the fish market, he went round to talk him out of it. He was relieved when Casey agreed to go back to school only for Cheryl to respond by throwing Casey out. The next morning, he retrieved Casey from where he had spent the night with Ruby, convinced Cheryl would have cooled down, then headed off to meet Charlie at a motel. However, Casey turned up and revealed Cheryl was serious, forcing Brax to smuggle Charlie out and stay at the motel with Casey.

He was then surprised by a re-appearance by his old girlfriend Tegan Callahan, who had been summoned by Cheryl. He turned down her attempts to pick up where they let off and, after seeing him with Charlie, she realised they were an item. Brax responded by threatening Tegan into leaving town. He later clashed with Xavier, who was in a mood after finding out April had cheated on him. When Xavier subsequently skipped work to take Summer for a spin on his company scooter and crashed it, Brax fired him, not least because he’d lost his license. Casey objected on the grounds Xavier was his friend but Brax indicated he’d have beaten him up otherwise. Casey promptly started hanging out with Heath and the other River Boys instead of going to school but Brax stepped in and ordered him to leave. It has no long term effect on Casey’s behaviour however so, when Charlie pointed out the example he was setting him, he quit the River Boys and gave Heath control of them.

When he learned Bianca had been raped and Heath was a suspect, he punched him and ordered him to co-operate with the investigation. He found Casey a place to stay with Romeo and Indi but refused to co-operate when Charlie asked him for information about Heath’s drug dealing. When Tegan told him Heath was planning to raid a drug crop belonging to her new boyfriend Jake Pirovic and Jake and his men would be waiting with guns, Brax tried to talk him out of going then sent Charlie after him. He visited Heath in hospital when he was injured in a clash with police and learned he had no intention of turning him in. When one of the River Boys, Mick, saw Liam talking with Charlie, he went to see Brax and not long after Liam was beaten up. When one of the River Boys fingered him for laundering money, he denied it under questioning but Charlie was horrified to realise it was true and broke up with him.

He refused to help Tegan when Jake asked her to hide some drugs but when Heath helped her anyway he went along with it. He then told Tegan about the break-up and slept with her, only for Charlie to see her when she came round to discuss a reconciliation. He refused to get back with Charlie, saying he needed to keep Tegan onside, but also made it clear to Tegan it was a one-off. He later received the news that Jake had been released on bail and arranged to hand over the drugs, even though some of them had been taken by the police after Heath had tried to run off with them. He failed to make the rendezvous so Jake took Ruby and Casey prisoner. Brax handed over the drugs but got into a fight when Jake found some missing, during which Brax locked Jake in a car boot for the police to find after being stabbed. He tried to treat the wound himself with help from Tegan but was found by Charlie and taken to hospital.

He was shocked when Tegan told him he was the father of her daughter Darcy, which she’d always claimed he wasn’t, and worried he might not have been there for his daughter in the same way his father hadn’t been there for him. On his release, he went to see Cheryl to ask if she knew about it and Tegan and Darcy spent the day with his family, which caused him to accept her as his daughter. However, Casey told him that he’d heard Tegan admit to Cheryl it was a lie. Brax confronted Tegan who admitted Heath was the father. Brax gave Darcy a surfboard as a belated birthday present and told her the truth, after which he was comforted by Charlie. They resumed their relationship but he was bothered when Heath was released and revealed he knew Brax was seeing Charlie and had reported him and then he and his brothers got into a fight with Jake’s brother Hammer and his gang. When Heath was beaten up, Brax went to Hammer and tried to organise a peaceful solution but Hammer made it clear he wanted Heath, who had given evidence against Jake, dead. Brax agreed they needed to make a decisive strike against the rival gang but was annoyed when Heath vandalised Hammer’s car. Learning Casey was living alone after Romeo and Indigo had moved out, he arranged for himself and Heath to move in with them.

After Heath’s car was torched, he agreed to call Hammer and the others out for a fight but Charlie and the police broke up the confrontation. Not long after, they found Stu Henderson, another of the River Boys, had been attacked and had his arm gouged. He arranged another fight with the gang but seemed distressed when it resulted in the surf club being trashed and John being injured. Returning to town after helping out in Mangrove River during a storm, he found Darcy wandering by the roadside and learned Tegan had been in a car crash. At the hospital, she admitted she had told Hammer about him and Charlie and the tip-off before dying in theatre. When Hammer promptly told him he was going to kill Charlie and then him, Brax beat him up, having to be dragged off by Heath. He tried to warn Charlie and knocked her to the ground when he saw someone aiming a gun at her from a car, causing the bullet to graze her arm. Hammer claimed they’d be allowed to leave town if they gave him the restaurant but Brax bought a gun, telling Heath they were going to “deal with” Hammer and then go legit. He made arrangements to meet up with Hammer after Tegan’s funeral but was interrupted by Charlie and Georgie, who took him in for questioning over Hammer’s base being burnt down. He discovered Casey was responsible so told the police Casey was at home sick and burnt the evidence, telling Casey to stay out of it from now on and trying to convince him to return to school.

Hammer, who had never been serious about his offer, kidnapped Charlie and told Brax to meet them at a storage container. Brax was forced to surrender his gun and, after a struggle, Hammer was about to shoot him when Charlie killed him. Brax kept quiet about his and Charlie’s relationship under questioning and denied all knowledge of the fire after his car was spotted near where the evidence was burned. He ordered Georgina out of the house when he found her talking to Casey and later found out Heath had taken Casey on the run on finding out Charlie planned to arrest him. He tracked the pair down and accompanied Casey to the station. He hired an expensive lawyer for Casey but then learned Cheryl had debts of $70,000.He decided he was fed up of bailing her out but after she assaulted a debt collector he was told she would face charges if she didn’t clear her debts. With Casey’s blessing, he gave her the money, then he and Heath had to save Casey from drowning. He got drunk and Charlie had to take him home; he asked her to stay but they were interrupted by Heath.

When he came home after organising Casey’s new lawyer, Hayley O’Connor, he found Heath throwing a party to send Casey off. He was uncomfortable when Hayley used his and Charlie’s relationship in court, especially since Casey was found guilty and sent to juvenile detention anyway. After learning Xavier had been punched by one of the Boys, Ferret, after a row over Sasha, who Stu was dating, Brax quietened the issue and pleaded Stu’s case to Sid. He had to cope with John and Gina complaining about the noisy parties at their place and ended up sleeping with Hayley.

When their relationship ended up on the front page, Charlie asked Brax to take her out for a drive and they shared a kiss but she stormed off after she found Hayley’s earring in the car. He later spent time with Hayley on the beach, giving her a surfing lesson, and defended Stu when Charlie suspected him of stealing a sheet from Sid’s prescription pad. He was worried when Benji Perrin, an old acquaintance recently released from jail, asked him to find work and instead offered him and another River Boy, Sam Foster, jobs delivering pizzas. He was questioned by Charlie over an armed robbery and began to suspect Benji and Sam were responsible. When the clothes worn by the getaway driver were found in his house, he went to see Benji, who admitted he’d been hired by Jake to set Brax up. He admitted he was in bed with Hayley at the time but she refused to confirm it and Charlie revealed she had been paid by Jake to represent Casey. Charlie told him they were transferring the evidence against him and let him know where they’d be stopping, allowing him to steal it.

When Heath found out what had been going on, he convinced Brax they should follow Charlie and Bianca on their getaway at a lodge. There, Brax told Charlie he didn’t hate anything about their relationship and they spent the night together. As they were driving back to the Bay, Brax and Charlie collided with Liam on his motorbike when he came out of an intersection. Realised the police would be suspicious if they were seen together, Brax told Bianca to take a semi-conscious Charlie and leave but Bianca refused to leave Liam so Heath told Brax to take her while he stayed to cover for them. He took her to a motel where Charlie was distressed by the cover-up they had become involved in. When Liam remembered seeing them in the car, he encouraged Bianca to lie to him. He took Charlie down the beach to cheer her up but Charlie was horrified to discover he had got them off the hook by planting the stolen evidence on a drug dealer who was also connected with the package. He begged Charlie for another chance and she told him to quit the River Boys. He was initially reluctant but when he found Heath planning to sell drugs to the schoolies and refused to help out when Stu got into a fight at the surf club he agreed.

With the business doing badly and Bianca wanting him to stay away from Liam, he told Charlie he was going to go to the city with her. Heath was unhappy with the idea but put him onto a seller he’d met through an old cellmate: However, this turned out to be the notorious Geoffrey King who made it clear he only wanted the restaurant as a front for his illegal activities. Brax refused to sell so Geoffrey told him to think about it some more. He tried to get Heath to come to the city with them and admitted what was going on to Charlie. When Heath was arrested for drug dealing, Brax bailed him out but declared he was now on his own. After spending what was supposed to be their last night in Summer Bay with Charlie, he set about packing with Casey and Ruby.

However, on arriving back at the house to collect Charlie, they discovered she had been shot. She was rushed to hospital and, on learning Jake had been released from jail, Brax went to find him. Jake was waiting at his house with a gun and a fight broke out in which Jake was disarmed. Brax chased Jake down the beach and had to be restrained when the police arrived to arrest Jake. Brax returned to the hospital to the news Charlie had been declared brain dead and Ruby was planning to turn off life support. He barricaded himself in her room with Jake’s gun, refusing to let anyone touch her. When he allowed Sid into the room to adjust the life support, Casey took the opportunity to enter and convince him to stand down. Sid convinced the police not to press charges and Brax sat with Ruby as Charlie died.

Brax then turned to drink, missing Charlie’s funeral and turning up drunk at the wake to rant about finding her and turning off the life support, only for Ruby to angrily accuse him of being responsible for her death. He left Heath in charge of the restaurant while he sobered up and was furious when he accepted stolen liqueur from Geoffrey, attacking his brother when he insulted Charlie. He returned the alcohol to Geoffrey, who demanded $30,000 or the restaurant. When Georgie turned up investigating a complaint of stolen liquor on the premises, he realised Geoffrey had been trying to set him up but when he took the police to Geoffrey’s lock-up it was empty. He then attempted to burn down the restaurant to stop Geoffrey getting hold of it but Leah talked him out of it. When Geoffrey began installing new chairs in the restaurant as if he owned it, Brax invited him to the restaurant, then put a gun on the table and said if Geoffrey wanted the restaurant he should shoot him. However, Leah interrupted the standoff and Geoffrey left.

He was furious when Leah paid Geoffrey off with $25,000, since now he owed her the money, and Ruby had a go at him over it. Despite Heath trying to talk him out of it, he arranged a cage fighting match with an old acquaintance, Trent “Sully” Sullivan, and won $8,000 which he gave to Leah. He later lost his temper when he realised Leah was wearing the same perfume Charlie had, not realising Charlie had bought it for her, and accepted Elijah’s offer to train him. He insisted on going ahead with a bout with Dick Norris, a much bigger and more vicious opponent in a different weight category, but was distracted when Leah rushed into the stadium and took a beating. Leah fussed over him but, on finding a house party at his place, discovered him in the bedroom with another woman, Shari. He hooked up with another woman, Tess Green, leaving Ruby disgusted when she walked in on them. He went after her to try and explain but, although she was more understanding, she couldn’t forgive him.

He was uncertain about Tyler Churchill, a friend of Casey’s from juvenile detention, staying with them and suspected there was something he didn’t know about, trying to get the truth from Tyler. When Heath found some money Tyler had been hiding in the house, Brax wanted rid of it. He learned the money came from Tyler stealing and selling John’s car and arranged to return the money to John and give him extra from his cage fighting in return for him leaving the police out of it. He also forced Tyler to tell him that Casey had left a boy scarred in juvenile detention while protecting Tyler. He threw Tyler out and reassured Casey. When he learned Tyler was wanted for breaking parole and had taken a knife from the Diner, he found Tyler chasing Casey through the bush and managed to overpower him before the police arrived.

He was preparing for a cage fight when someone hit him over the head and robbed the restaurant. He refused to pull out of the fight despite Leah’s warnings and denied the assault had happened when she told the referee. He won the bout but collapsed afterwards with a cerebral haemorrhage. He needed an operation, after which Sid and Leah told him he needed to give up fighting. Heath found out Sully had hit him to try and stop him fighting and Brax was annoyed when Heath ended up giving Sully free passage out of town when he threatened Bianca. He was uncomfortable being in the hospital room where Charlie had died and ended up fleeing the hospital and going to Leah. When she held him in an intimate manner while comforting him, he left the house and went home, where Sid and Heath spent the night looking after him before Sid convinced him to return to the hospital in another room.

He caught VJ trying to steal his surf board and learned Jayden Post, one of the younger River Boys, had put him up to it. Although Leah initially blamed him, John encouraged him to be a role model to VJ and he arranged for them to do up a trail bike together. He was uncomfortable when VJ asked him if he’d ever love anyone again and Elijah suggested VJ had noticed Leah was in love with him. He initially tried to cut ties with VJ before telling Leah he’d continue working on the bike with VJ but couldn’t spend time with her. Leah later denied having feelings for him. When VJ told him Ruby had been arrested for drug possession, he poured scorn on Leah’s suggestion they leave it to the authorities and, on learning from Romeo that he believed Ruby’s new boyfriend Steve Carmody had planted it on her, tracked Steve down at a motel and intimidated him into handing himself in to the police. Ruby was furious when she found out he’d interfered in her life but he told her he would look out for her whether she wanted him to or not.

He overheard April opining that Henri Brown, one of her teachers, was seeing Heath. Finding himself in the middle of Heath and Casey’s problems, he tried to talk Liam out of taking Bianca, who was pregnant with Heath’s baby, away from town. When VJ told him he’d seen Casey kissing Henri Brown, he confronted Casey about it and, when Henri was suspended from work, ordered her to leave town. When he turned up at the restaurant to find Leah getting drunk with Biff Carruthers, one of the River Boys, he took her home, where she tried to kiss him. He dismissed her attempt to explain since he had learned Heath had hired Hayley as a lawyer in a custody bid. He drove Hayley to a clifftop and demanded she talk to him about what happened to Charlie, blaming her for getting Jake out of jail. As he became more aggressive, Hayley hit him over the head with a rock in a failed escape attempt before daring him to kill her, after which he let her go. He then spoke to Leah and they agreed to stay friends. He shared a heart to heart with VJ over the latter being bullied as they finished the bike.

He offered Liam support after he and Bianca split up and made him manager of the restaurant over Heath. He was furious when Hayley turned up at the restaurant and threw her out, earning Liam’s disapproval because of his treatment of her, and also annoyed when he found out Heath had been giving her drugs. He reluctantly accompanied Liam to check on her and mocked her when she found out they’d slept together, scaring her off. He turned Hayley away when she turned up at the restaurant and told Heath and Casey not to have anything to do with her. He tried to get Heath sober after Bianca had problems with the baby, accusing him of being like their father Danny, and was abrupt when Casey asked about him then learned Heath was trying to get out of jail. Leah persuaded him to visit his father but the experience left him convinced Danny hadn’t changed. The three brothers had a brief moment of harmony when Heath’s son was born but afterwards Brax insisted Danny wasn’t a part of their lives.

He supported Heath when Bianca ended up in an induced coma and, when Casey questioned him about Danny, eventually told him that he used to get Casey out of the house when Danny was in his moods, which led to Danny putting Heath in hospital and breaking Cheryl’s arm. He reluctantly took Casey to see Danny and was disappointed when they got on well and Heath refused to drop his plans. He was unhappy when school counsellor Natalie Davison tried to talk to him about Casey’s feelings, telling Casey not to talk with her, and when Casey failed to come home he wrongly assumed he was with Natalie(he was actually with Sasha).He shut the door on her when she tried to talk to him about Charlie. He was shocked to learn Danny was due in court for an appeal, trying to stop Hayley and Danny from going through with it, and was disgusted to find out Liam was now seeing Hayley. He was relieved when Hayley turned up to the appeal on drugs but as the case dragged on he went back to the restaurant, threw everyone out and got drunk…only for a now free Danny to turn up. When Danny threatened to go round to Cheryl, Brax let him stay the night at his place but made him move out afterwards, telling Heath and Casey to do whatever they liked. He got Cheryl to leave town then told Danny that the money that he’d left behind was gone. He sacked Liam from the restaurant and, when he found Casey talking to Natalie again, threw her out of the house.

He was angry when he found out that Casey had been skipping school to spend time with Danny and was planning to drop out and go travelling with him. He initially blamed Natalie before realising she had the same opinion on the situation as him. He managed to convince Casey to stay at school for the trials to see how he did. He was initially unsympathetic when he found out Ruby had lied about being pregnant to get Romeo to stay with her. Leah convinced him to try and speak to her but she ignored him when he went to the caravan. He then stopped her attacking Romeo and Indi on the beach, telling her she needed to take responsibility. He stepped in when he saw Danny intimidating Natalie but shortly after he was attacked by two men and knocked out. After spending the night unconscious in the bush, he was found by Sid and taken to the hospital. He admitted to Casey that he thought Danny was behind it and told him about the money. He lectured Heath when he got drunk instead of supporting Bianca with Rocco, only for Heath to discover some letters that Danny had sent the family from jail and Brax had sent back and angrily confront him about it. Brax joined the family for a meal at Angelo’s where Danny dropped hints about going after Cheryl for what he was owed, prompting Brax to decide to come up with an illegal way to pay him back: he arranged a job as a drugs courier. He was left waiting at the wharf while the person in charge of the run, Bob Lawson, sorted out the shipment, then Bob planned to dump the drugs when he found out the police were waiting for them. Brax took charge of the situation, sending Bob off with the drugs while he met with the police. When Bob failed to turn up for the rendezvous, he thought he’d been double-crossed but Bob had merely gone to the wrong place.

He was left at a low ebb when he returned and found Casey back hanging out with Danny but Natalie gave him a boost by telling him he was a good man and sleeping with him, although he was left uncomfortable afterwards. When he found out Casey was helping Danny con Ruby, he turned up at school and threatened him but Natalie convinced him Casey was on their side and Casey revealed he was only staying close to Danny to find out his next move. After Heath agreed with the plan, Brax staged an argument with Casey to convince Danny he was telling the truth. He instructed Casey to cut all ties with Ruby, even though the decision left Ruby upset, and threw Romeo out of Angelo’s when he started hurling abuse at Liam and Indi. When Natalie said she’d seen Danny meeting with a young man, Brax suspected Danny was planning to do a job and involve Casey, so arranged another drugs run with Bob. However, he pulled out when Bob repeatedly changed the details, including changing the drugs involved to cocaine. He sent Casey to stay with Cheryl to keep him out of trouble.

Ruby came to him and revealed she had cut the brake tube on Indi’s car, causing an accident that had put Dexter in a coma. Brax tried to get her to leave the area but she insisted on turning herself in, telling him to let go of his anger over Charlie’s death, and he helped her confess with dignity by getting Leah and Georgie to take her to a police station in the city rather than Charlie’s old station. He then visited Charlie’s grave to say goodbye. Natalie told him that she’d seen Casey going off with Danny, rather than going to Cheryl as Brax had instructed, and they searched Danny’s caravan, eventually finding a map indicating Danny was planning to rob the Reefton Arms. He and Natalie headed down there but failed to stop the robbery and found Casey had shot Danny. Brax tried to take the blame and got the only witness, the pub manager, to back him up but Casey wouldn’t let him and confessed. He dismissed Heath’s grief over Danny’s death and posted bail for Casey, only for Casey to deliberately break his bail conditions and get locked up again. Brax tried to talk him round, and Georgie gave him an unofficial update on Casey’s situation, but Casey refused to see him. He was uninterested when Marilyn approached him to say she was organising a funeral for Danny but Natalie suggested he go since it would give him a chance to talk to Casey and he managed to convince his brother that Danny had been setting him up. Brax then slept with Natalie and they decided to embark on a relationship. When Casey was allowed out on bail and Heath moved out rather than share with him, Brax wanted to confront Heath but Casey insisted he was the one at fault. He tried to get Natalie to talk to Casey but Casey realised he’d been set up. He also spoke to Heath and, after angrily interrogating him, was shocked to realise how upset Heath was that he’d never got answers from his father about the way he treated them. Feeling Casey might talk to Natalie if she wasn’t so close to the situation, he broke up with her. He then visited Heath and Bianca and was left looking after Rocco.

Casey was furious when he found out Brax had broken up with Natalie, telling him to look after himself. Natalie told him not to treat Casey any differently so he dragged him to the hospital to visit Dexter in order to inspire him. However, he continued to be worried by Casey’s attitude and broke into his room to find it stripped of furniture. When Casey found him there, he punched him and ran off. Brax then found a map of the desert and realised Danny had been telling Casey the same story about heading off to the outback as he had him and Heath. Heath dragged him into helping the Walkers prepare their home for Dexter’s discharge from hospital and afterwards he told Bianca what Heath had been up to. He overheard Indi having a go at Casey for sleeping with Sasha and then discarding her and went after Casey, ripping his shirt and revealing he had a copy of Danny’s tattoo on his back. Afterwards, Casey told him and Natalie the full story of what had happened when Danny died and Brax suggested the two of them go away for a few days. They shared a heart to heart that seemingly left Casey feeling more positive but when Brax returned from getting some pies he found Casey gone and assumed he’d done a runner. After getting a cryptic call from Casey, he began to change his mind and realised that Casey was out in the desert where Danny had promised to take them but refused to involve the police and decided to fly out there himself, with Natalie accompanying him. They found the town deserted and went looking for a tree Danny had mentioned. They ran into Kyle, Danny’s secret son and Casey’s kidnapper, who sent them off in the wrong direction until Natalie realised he was the young man she’d seen with Danny. They were attracted by an explosion and found a badly dehydrated Casey. Brax told Natalie to take Casey back to town while he went looking for Kyle. After overpowering him, he let him go after they talked about Danny, then considered running off with Casey and asked Natalie to go with them. She refused and instead they spent a last night together in the desert but Casey decided to return to Summer Bay anyway.

They found the police on their doorstep and headed to the hospital only to learn that Rocco had died. Brax comforted Heath and backed up Casey’s story to the police, although he accepted Natalie’s belief that Tamara Kingsley, the girl Casey said saved him, was a figment of his imagination. However, the way he lived his life caused Natalie to break up with him. The police told him that Casey would face additional charges if they couldn’t prove Kyle existed. He attended Rocco’s funeral and joined Heath and Casey in laying a wreath out at sea. Afterwards, he set to work looking for Kyle but had been left owing $30,000 in lawyers’ fees and bail money and was forced to stand by as repo men took equipment from the restaurant. His old mentor Adam Sharpe turned up, paid off the debt and offered to help find Kyle. Heath was unhappy about Adam being around, since he’d once let him go to jail and was supplying Bianca with sedatives, but Brax ignored his concerns. Together, Brax and Adam managed to persuade an old associate of Danny’s, Clay, one of the men who’d earlier attacked Brax, to tell them what he knew about Kyle’s whereabouts. Brax then headed off to Melbourne with Heath to track him down. They went to the address Adam gave him but the woman there, Mackenzie Watson, told them Kyle wasn’t there anymore. Kyle then rang and arranged to meet them under a bridge but when he turned up he had a group of thugs with him. A fight was prevented by the arrival of the police, who had been sent by Mack. She helped them track down Kyle afterwards and they convinced him to return with them to Summer Bay. However, once they arrived he refused to talk to the police unless they made it worth his while. Brax spoke with Adam, who agreed to arrange Kyle a lawyer for any charges he faced.

When Brax saw Natalie at one of Adam’s parties, he approached her but she pulled away. He took Kyle to the police but Senior Sergeant Emerson wasn’t sure he was a credible witness. Kyle then confirmed Tamara was real, prompting Brax to start a search for her. When she turned up, they asked her to testify. He accompanied Casey in court and wanted him to stay out of the court room when he suffered a panic attack but Heath and Casey disagreed. He later went along with Heath’s suggestion of a boys’ night in before getting a call saying the jury was in. Casey escaped with periodic detention. When Kyle was arrested, Brax ignored Adam’s suggestion that they pull out of their deal, getting him bail and a lawyer and arranging for him to stay with Adam. Natalie told him that Adam’s son Jamie had been harassing Leah so he asked Adam to sort him out. He was thrown slightly when Heath told him Adam beat Jamie. After taking Casey to his first stay at periodic detention, he asked Natalie to get a friend of hers, Zac MacGuire, to keep an eye on him. He and Natalie kissed but were interrupted by Heath and Kyle. John berated him over the way Adam and Jamie treated people and he was shocked when Natalie and Kyle confirmed that Adam had been keeping Bianca drugged up with sedatives and had let Jamie force Leah out of town. He confronted Adam, telling him they were finished, but Adam retorted by saying Brax was no different to him and reminding him Charlie had died because she got close to him. As a result, Brax asked Natalie to look after Casey but refused to resume their relationship and helped Kyle move into the house away from Adam.

When it became clear Heath was missing, after Bianca revealed he wasn’t answering her calls and Liam noted Jamie, who was meant to be going away with Heath, was still in town without him, Brax, along with Kyle, confronted Jamie who admitted Adam had ordered him to leave Heath to die out at sea. They forced Jamie to help look for him, although Brax’s physical threats had less effect than Kyle’s gentle persuasion, finding him washed up on a beach and getting him to hospital. Brax ordered Adam and Jamie to stay away from his family but worried Adam had given up too easily. He staged a fight with Liam then let Jamie overhear a conversation indicating Leah was hiding out in Mangrove River. He then had Kyle taking Jamie hostage and, with help from Liam and John, recorded Adam confessing and handed him over to the police.

He clashed with Casey over the changes he’d instigated in his absence and managed to forget his birthday. He then blamed Zac when Casey was beaten up in prison but Casey defended Zac, saying he had stopped him getting involved with drug dealing. He gave Kyle a job at Angelo’s to get him out of the house but dismissed Heath’s plans to apply for custody of Darcy. Casey asked him to help Tamara deal with her abusive ex but Tamara was angered by his attempt to take over the situation and he then ended up arguing with Casey about it in front of the social worker assessing Heath’s custody application. When the application failed and Heath lost all rights to Darcy, her grandmother Connie told Brax Heath had taken her from school. Brax angrily confronted Heath but he knew nothing about it. In fact, Adam had been released and had kidnapped Darcy to force Heath to meet with Eugene Broad, a contact who had a habit of killing couriers after they handed over the money. Brax took his place but Heath saved him by overpowering the hidden gunman. Adam pushed Brax out of the way of Eugene’s car and was apparently killed, prompting Brax to walk away from the scene telling Heath to look after things.

When he returned, he found the restaurant in turmoil as a result of Heath appointing himself manager, with no supplies and the head chef having left in protest. By the time Brax had enough things sorted to go and see Natalie, he found her kissing Zac and subsequently blanked her. He softened towards Heath when he learned he was having trouble getting access to Darcy but was furious when Casey was beaten up in prison, threatening Zac if anything happened to him. He agreed to Tamara moving in and told Casey to accept Zac’s help, advising him to separate prison bully Courtney Freeman from his support network. When Natalie criticised him for his advice, he told her they should stay away from each other. He was annoyed when Casey was stabbed while protecting Jamie, another of Courtney’s targets, and had Casey transferred to hospital against his wishes, telling Jamie to leave Casey out of his problems. He also blamed Zac again and tried to convince Casey to take a deal that was being offered to give evidence against Courtney. When it looked like Casey would have to go back to jail despite making a statement against Courtney, Brax encouraged him to go on the run but Casey refused and Zac arrived with a last minute reprieve.

When Kyle refused to work with Liam, Brax wondered why and Liam admitted he’d been stealing from the restaurant, prompting Brax to fire him, telling him to keep the money as severance pay. He initially found himself distracted by the chaos of the rest of the family but when they all turned to him for help he called a family meeting to lay down the law, telling Tamara to refuse to testify against Kyle and Casey to move back in and making Kyle manager of Angelo’s. He upset Natalie by reminding her they weren’t friends anymore, leading to a confrontation with Zac, after which Natalie decided to stay away from his family. He cleared out the house’s annexe so Casey and Tamara could have it to themselves. At Bianca and Heath’s engagement party, Brax was reunited with Ricky Sharpe, Adam’s sister, and they spent the night together. Natalie encouraged him to make a go of things with Ricky and he surprised her on a photography assignment. They slept together again but she disappeared straight afterwards.

He had to play peacemaker between Casey and Tamara when it was revealed Kyle had feelings for Tamara. When he found out that Kyle had kissed her, he moved him out to the caravan park, telling him he’d have to prove himself before he could be part of the family. He tried unsuccessfully to broker peace between Casey and Kyle and tried to ignore their going missing together in order to spend time with Ricky. He talked Tamara out of leaving town and, when Casey and Kyle turned up having sorted out their differences, offered Kyle his room back, only for Kyle to decide to stay away because he didn’t know how to fit into the family. He offered to put on a wake for Gina’s funeral and offered John and Jett free meals as long as they needed them. He also helped John arranged a dinner date for Jett and his girlfriend Nina Bailey at the restaurant.

He was confused by Ricky’s secretive nature and lengthy absences, as she kept disappearing after getting mystery phone calls she claimed were work. Then, after the wake, Emerson approached him and said the police were looking for Ricky. When he questioned her, she told him she’d been left looking after the business Adam had left behind and agreed to let him help. He confronted Natalie when he learned Zac had turned Kyle down as a housemate and helped him secure a place. After going away with Ricky, he ignored Kyle’s attempts to discuss the restaurant with him. He told Ricky she was the best thing to happen to him in a long time but she told him she couldn’t be that sort of girlfriend. She later returned and they sorted things out. He was punched by Heath, who accused him of paying Connie to take Darcy away. Kyle confirmed there had been a money transfer to Connie from the restaurant account, which Brax knew nothing about, but they failed to convince Heath, who moved out. Casey suggested Kyle transferred the money to cause trouble but Brax chose to trust him and refused to go away with Ricky while everything was going on.

He refused to let Ricky break up with him, then Casey was arrested after being framed for armed robbery. After he returned from checking out the pub that was supposedly robbed, he was accosted by Heath and Kyle, who forced Ricky to tell him someone had forced her to use Kyle to set Casey up. When both Tamara and Ricky went missing, he hid it from Casey. He was shocked to learn Adam owned the pub that was robbed but it wasn’t until he got a phone call that Brax realised the still alive Adam was behind everything. Casey was tipped off by Adam as to Tamara’s disappearance and attacked Brax, then Adam rang him and said he’d release either Tamara or Ricky and Brax would have to choose which. Despite the likelihood of Ricky being involved, Brax insisted on trying to save them both and sneaked out of the house with Kyle. Adam rang to say he’d kill one of the girls and Brax and Kyle found Tamara dumped unconscious. After getting her to hospital, Brax tried to bully her into telling him where Ricky was but she had been left with no memory of Summer Bay. At Adam’s invitation, Brax went to the warehouse where he’d last seen him to try and rescue Ricky and was shot by Adam. He was rushed to hospital unconscious and, in a near death experience; he saw Charlie telling him to wake up but could only watch as Adam gave him a potassium injection. He again found himself with Charlie and told her he was tired of fighting but she convinced him to go back to his brothers and Ricky. He told Ricky he loved her but she felt she had to leave and he was unable to contact her.

When he learned Kyle had slept with Tamara, he punched him but Kyle refused to back down, pointing out Brax still loved Ricky despite the bad feeling it was causing. When Ricky turned up, he kissed her before telling her to either be with him or leave. They were interrupted by Heath and Bianca, and Heath convinced Brax to take Ricky away for a while. There, he asked Ricky move in with him and refused to accept her claim it would break up his family. Casey was furious, blaming Ricky for the breakdown of his relationship with Tamara, and moved out of the house. Brax was then told he had to testify against Ricky and tried to get Casey to lie to protect her. He also ended up arguing with Kyle when he objected to Tamara being called to give evidence. In court, he refused to testify, citing the fact he lived with Ricky. This was rejected since she had only just moved in and he ended up locked away for contempt of court until Kyle paid his fine.

Roo asked him to intervene when Casey started spending time with Maddy and they stayed out all night together. When Casey was briefly hospitalised with alcohol poisoning, Brax insisted he move back home. While the brothers were in Melbourne for Heath’s stag weekend, Heath asked him to be best man. Heath then panicked when Bianca postponed the wedding. Brax rang Ricky and asked her to sort it, then lied to Heath that everything was fine and surreptitiously took his phone away. However, this meant he couldn’t receive a call from Bianca saying the wedding was back on and by the time Brax tracked him down he’d had a one-night stand with barmaid Jessica Lockwood. Brax challenged Casey when Roo told him he’d assaulted Maddy, only to find that Roo had got it wrong, leaving Casey disappointed with Brax’s lack of faith in him. He tried to get Ricky to keep quiet about Heath’s indiscretion and in the end Heath confessed and the wedding ended in disaster. When it was rescheduled, Brax was annoyed with Ricky for telling Cheryl to stay away if she couldn’t support them but forgave her soon afterwards. At the reception, he got chatting to Sally, whose daughter Pippa was ill, which had prompted Heath and Bianca to set up a wishing well for donations in lieu of gifts. This prompted Brax to make an anonymous donation of $80,000.

When Casey was run off the road by Andy Barrett and left with spinal damage that meant he might never walk again, Brax got annoyed with Sasha when she suggested he had been drinking, snapped at Indi when she asked after him and got into an argument with Casey’s doctor, Peta Bradley, when she couldn’t give him any assurances. Casey told him what had happened and Maddy identified the culprits. Brax attacked Andy and had to be restrained by Bianca and Maddy from attacking his brother Josh, who had been in the car with him. He dismissed Maddy’s protest that Josh had tried to stop Andy and failed to convince Casey to do physio. When Zac mentioned that his brother Ethan had taken his children to a cult and he was worried about them, Brax suggested he simply take them. Along with Heath and Kyle, he took the pair, Evelyn and Oscar, from their lodge while Zac kept Ethan busy. Brax punched group leader Murray Granger when he tried to stop them and left Zac and the twins at a motel. He gave Leah advice on how to get Oscar medical attention without anyone knowing who he was but failed to make any inroads with Casey, to the point that Ricky convinced him to go away for a while to get some distance.

He refused to forgive Josh, throwing him out when he came to the house to apologise and then throwing him out of the hospital when he found him talking to Casey. Casey convinced him to apologise since he saw Josh was sorry for his involvement and Brax was shocked to realise the brothers were the sons of Johnny Barrett, an old associate of Danny’s. He suddenly began taking a lot of interest in the family and gave Josh a place to stay when he fell out with Andy and their mother. He went to an address Heath thought Andy was hiding out at and found the Barretts’ mother Debbie, who believed Johnny had disappeared with the money from Danny’s last robbery. When Andy turned up, Brax asked him why he caused the accident and Andy revealed he blamed the Braxtons for Johnny running out on them..

Brax then revealed to Ricky that Johnny had not disappeared as everyone believed: He had tried to claim all the money from Danny’s last robbery and struck Casey, after which Brax had met him to offer him a half share and caused him to fall and hit his head, killing him. Adam had helped cover it up. Brax felt guilty about the damage he had done to the Barretts and, after confessing to his family, turned himself in to the police. He was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to ten to fifteen years. The Barretts’ mother Debbie attempted to shoot him as he was taken away but Josh intervened and was shot and wounded.

Brax continued to see his family in jail but Kyle warned him that Ricky was spending time with Nate Cooper and ten years was a long time to wait. Unaware she was pregnant, Brax broke up with her. He later told his brothers he was being transferred and wasn’t going to tell them where to. He packed up his cell before being escorted away by a guard.

Brax was released from prison when Adam confessed that he had finished Johnny off, with Brax’s sentence being reduced to time served. He returned to find Heath resentful at him for abandoning them and Ricky dating Nate Cooper and telling him that she’d moved on. When Andy found out he was out, he punched him and refused to forgive him even when he heard the full story. Nate also warned him off Ricky. Brax explained the situation to Josh but was unable to help him locate Johnny’s body. After Adam told the police where it was, Brax reluctantly gave Josh a lift to the city when Andy refused to get involved. He congratulated Heath on the birth of his son Harley and told Ricky about Nate warning him off. He tried to talk Bianca out of leaving town when she went to London with Ricky.

He was shocked to see a photo of Casey in Johnny Barrett’s belongings and pocketed it when Andy and Josh weren’t looking. He went to see Cheryl who confirmed what he suspected: Johnny had been Casey’s biological father. Brax tried to convince Casey to stay away from the Barretts, then decided to accompany Heath to London to find Ricky and Bianca and persuaded Casey to go with them. After making a failed attempt to convince Ricky he’d made a mistake, Brax tried to intrude on her shoot but ended up scuffling with security guards and then being run over while chasing Ricky’s taxi. Complications from his earlier head injury meant it was touch and go for a while but he quickly recovered. He followed Ricky back to Australia but then collapsed in pain while talking to her. He was rushed to hospital where it was discovered he had a pulmonary embolism after ignoring medical advice not to fly. While he was there, Andy stole the photo back and Brax explained to Ricky that it was of Casey. When Casey quizzed him about the incident, Brax told him the photo was handed in at the Diner. Then Ricky told him she had been pregnant when he had cut all ties with her and then miscarried.

Andy revealed he knew Casey was Johnny’s son and implied he wanted Brax to buy his silence. After talking it over with Ricky, Brax gave Andy $5000 but Josh overheard them talking and also learned the truth. Ricky told Brax he needed to tell Casey before anyone else did. Brax did so but Casey reacted badly, especially when he found out how long Brax had known. Brax tried to cover for Casey when he got into a fight with Andy and ended up taking his bad mood out on Phoebe, then getting into an argument with Nate and Ricky. However, he and Ricky were soon reunited and she moved back in. He helped search for Darcy and Harley when they went missing and stopped Heath blaming Bianca. After the pair were found, Brax discovered that Casey had an infection after getting his tattoo removed and called Nate for help. Andy wanted him to keep Casey and Josh apart but he decided to let them sort it out themselves. He arranged for Casey to speak to Cheryl, which left him more at peace.

He joined Casey in winding up Chris, who was jealous of Casey’s friendship with Denny, but also told Casey he thought it was Casey that Denny liked and encouraged him to make a play for her. He and Casey then found some money Kyle had hidden in the house. They and Ricky confronted him and learned Phoebe’s father Mark had tried to bribe him to leave her. Brax confronted Mark, trying to get him to leave the pair alone. Mark retaliated by arranging a police search of the Braxtons’ home and businesses. Someone took a shot through the window when Brax and Ricky were home and Brax assumed it was Andy, who had been taunting him beforehand, with Casey and Kyle having to restrain him from attacking him. He suggested Heath send Harley to stay with Bianca until things were sorted. The situation escalated when Kyle was attacked. Kyle told him that Mark was behind the attacks and Brax demanded he tell Phoebe. Kyle refused and also failed to bluff Mark into leaving. Brax tracked down the man who had shot at the house and forced Mark to leave town by telling him that otherwise he’d go to the police and Phoebe would find out.

He rescued Jett from drowning with help from Alf and John, diving in and keeping him afloat until they arrived with the boat. He worried when he found himself detached from the family and tried to call a family meeting, only to leave his brothers bemused that he just wanted to talk about their feelings. At Ricky’s suggestion, he organised a family barbeque to talk things over in a more relaxed situation. He was concerned when Heath decided to apply for custody of Darcy again but ultimately supported him. He was puzzled when Ricky asked him how he saw their future, until she explained their baby would have been due that day. She told him she wanted to have a baby with him one day but he told her it was out of the question. He explained that he was worried about ending up like his father, so Ricky went away for a while to reconsider.

He became snappy, giving Matt short shrift when he tried to discuss working conditions at Angelo’s and arguing with Casey when Casey refused to tell him what was going on with his life, although he eventually confided in Casey about what was going on with him and Ricky. When Ricky returned, he told her he wanted time to himself after spending all his life looking after other people. He looked after Darcy when she injured her arm and unsuccessfully tried to stop Nate reporting her as a suspected abuse victim. When he found Casey going away instead of sticking around to help, and Casey refused to say where he was going, Brax got angry and nearly hit him before Ricky intervened. He saw it as evidence he would be a bad father but when Ricky said she couldn’t do without children he suggested he might be ready one day. Afterwards, Casey finally admitted to Brax that he had been seeing Denny.

Brax went after Heath when he turned up at school looking to see Darcy and talked him out of running away with her and Harley, taking her back to Connie. Heath told him that he was going to move to the city to be with Bianca and Brax convinced Connie to let him visit Darcy and say goodbye. After seeing off Heath and his family, including Darcy, Brax told Ricky he had changed his mind about the baby. He prepared to move into the flat with Ricky, only to find Phoebe had already got permission from Heath to move in. He managed to get Kyle to convince Phoebe to back down.

He tried to stay out of family arguments when Casey moved Josh into the house but eventually questioned him about his reasons and learned he was protecting him from drug dealers Andy owed money to. Brax was fine with him staying but refused to give Casey money to pay off Andy’s debts. He was annoyed when Casey stole money from the gym instead and Andy was beaten up anyway. He agreed to shelter Josh and took $4000 from the restaurant to pay off Andy, angering Kyle. Phoebe told Brax that Kyle wanted his respect and he showed what he thought of him by confiding in him about the baby plans. When Casey was attacked at the gym by Andy’s associates, Brax went rushing to his rescue but this turned out to be a diversion for them to kidnap Josh and Evelyn. When Andy reappeared, Brax accompanied him to pay off Cody Dalton and warned him to stay away; Andy paid back the money he owed him.

Ricky tore a strip off him on learning Kyle and Phoebe knew they were trying for a baby but they managed to smooth things over. Ricky felt they should put the baby plans on the back burner and Brax agreed but insisted on telling the rest of the family what they were planning and doing up an old cot. When Ricky asked him to go on a double date with Nate and Sophie, he refused, but the others turned up at Angelo’s anyway. He reluctantly joined them but was angry to learn Ricky had asked Nate’s advice about trying for a baby.

He offered Andy help for Casey’s sake but Andy rejected it. He discouraged Josh from contacting Andy and ended up being punched by Andy, who accused him of trying to take Josh away from him. Ricky encouraged him to spend time with Josh and he invited him to fix a car with him, offering to teach him to drive. Andy told him he wanted to change and Brax decided to trust him. He invited Andy round to help when Josh was getting ready for his formal. However, the night of the formal Denny told him that Casey and Andy had gone to rescue Josh from Jake. He got the location from Cody and grabbed Kyle to go with him. Even though they arrived to find Josh free and Jake nowhere in sight, Brax stopped to berate Casey for acting alone and as he did so Jake fired through the window, intending to kill Brax, and hit Casey instead. Brax cradled Casey as he died, refusing to let anyone else near him, and had to be dragged away from his body by the police when the ambulance arrived. He rejected any attempt by Kyle and Ricky to speak to him or involve him in funeral arrangements, instead recruiting Andy to help him kill Jake.

When Cheryl turned up for the funeral, she criticised him for not keeping Casey safe. He was set to leave the funeral when he got a taunting message from Jake but Andy convinced him to stay and deliver the eulogy. Cheryl apologised for her words and Brax refused to let Heath go after Jake with him. Instead, he asked Andy and Kyle to go with him and invited Andy to move in with the Braxtons for a time. Kyle was reluctant to leave Phoebe so Brax took Kyle to investigate a sighting of Cody, ignoring Ricky’s pleas. He returned to the Bay to spend one last night with Ricky, then went after Jake. The two ended up in a car chase and Jake crashed after their vehicles collided. As he and Brax squared off, Jake’s car exploded. Brax survived unharmed but was prevented from finishing off Jake by the arrival of the police and ambulances. At the hospital, he tried to stop Nate treating Jake and was finally arrested when he tried to kill him by interfering with the hospital equipment. He refused to give up on his revenge on being released but Kyle insisted on taking him home and he abandoned the plan on learning Ricky was pregnant. However, he then found himself arrested for murder after someone turned off Jake’s life support but was released when Ricky told Emerson about her pregnancy. He told everyone the matter was closed but realised he had no idea what to do next.

He was furious to find the gym was being sold, tearing down the sign, and reluctant to help Ricky and Josh clean out Casey’s room. He found an engagement ring in Casey’s bag and gave it to Denny. He then offered the room to Andy, bought the gym and joined Ricky for an ultrasound. He was unhappy about Andy wanting to make changes at the gym but, at Ricky’s suggestion, offered him the manager’s job, which he turned down. He found Andy messing around with the gym’s petty cash and realised Maddy had stolen from the gym, firing her. When he found out VJ was missing, he joined Leah in forcing bully Tyson Lee to admit he had left him tied up in the bush and went with Nate to find him. They discovered VJ at the bottom of a cliff but Nate fell while trying to reach him. Brax managed to climb down to them and, with help from VJ, carried Nate to safety.

Ricky told him that someone was looking for him and he worried it was connected with Jake. However, when he came across the man, it turned out to be Ash, a friend from prison who had looked out for him when he was getting into fights. Brax invited him to stay on the couch and gave him a job at Angelo’s. He became increasingly edgy, rejecting Kyle’s request for a 25% share of the restaurant out of hand and then attacking him. He apologised and offered him a share but refused to discuss what was going on with him or Ricky and even ended up arguing with Ash. When he attacked Josh for waking him up, he was forced to admit his problems and told Ricky he’d been getting into fights in prison and Ash stopped him getting into one he wouldn’t walk away from. He worried he would be the same with their baby. He spent the night on the beach before Ash took him away.

When he returned, he prepared to join Ricky at an ultrasound but had to go and rescue Ash, who had been attacked by a jealous husband, and missed the appointment. With Ash sleeping with a string of women, Brax realised he was out of control and Ash admitted that with his sister missing he felt lost. Brax threw record producer Neive Devlin, who had signed up Phoebe, out of Angelo’s when she tried to force Kyle to sell her one of his songs. When he learned Ash had got a lead on his sister Billie and her boyfriend Dean, who had been responsible for putting Ash in jail, Brax offered to go with him to check it out but Ricky told him he needed to choose between them. He initially agreed to Ash and Andy going without him but then changed his mind and traded place with Andy. Searching a ghost town, they glimpsed Billie’s car but lost it. Barman Sam Kennedy told them the car belonged to Dean and gave them his address. They found Dean but even after Brax had dangled him over a well he couldn’t tell them anything except that Billie had disappeared one night. While Ash got drunk, Brax waited outside Dean’s house and went after him when he saw him leaving. He followed him to a mineshaft where he found him digging up the money from the robbery he and Ash had done, so knocked him out and took the money.

He and Ash headed home but Ash had no interest in the money and Ricky was furious to find out what he had got up to. He was initially unrepentant until he was forced to accept than an impulsive decision had got Casey killed. When Ash showed an interest in Denny, Brax told him that she was Casey’s girlfriend and off limits. When he found out Ash had given Phoebe the money to pay off Neive, he gave it back to him. He went to a scan with Ricky where they learned they were expecting a boy. When he learned Denny was wearing Casey’s engagement ring, he told her to move on when she was ready. He was reluctant to go on the trip Ricky and Kyle were organising to support Phoebe’s launch; however, when Josh told him that Maddy, who had cancer, had told him to move on, he convinced him they should go after the coach trip so Josh could make up with Evelyn. Instead, they saw the coach crash shortly before they collided with the car containing Nate and Sophie. He suffered only minor injuries and helped look after Kyle who had been trapped during the crash. He walked away from Sophie on learning she had caused the crash. He joined Ricky and Ash in backing up Phoebe when she confronted Neive, who had posted a video of her apparently having sex on the internet as a publicity stunt.

Soon after, Brax was arrested for the murder of Dean Sanderson. He initially dismissed it until he found out Dean had been killed with the spade he had used to dig up the money and his fingerprints were on it. Ash offered to take the blame and Brax told him and Ricky the full story. Ash worked out that Sam had done it and Brax wanted to track him down but was convinced to wait until after his next sign-in. Then, Ricky kept Kat busy while Ash smuggled Brax out of town. He tried to threaten Sam but Ash stepped in, allowing Sam to call the police and forcing them to make a rushed exit. He made it back in time for his sign in but the stress soon began to get on top of him. After a talking to from Ash, he agreed to fight, but all his solicitor could suggest was pleading guilty to a lesser charge or offering Ash as an alternative suspect. At Ricky’s urging, he agreed to the former, then blasted Phoebe for going to the police when she was stalked by Ryan Kelly. He was told he could plead guilty to manslaughter and serve eight years. He decided to take the deal, signing the restaurant and gym over to Kyle and Ricky and making Andy gym manager. He also made sure to finish a cot for the baby, but in court he suddenly decided to plead not guilty. Ricky threw a last party for him on the beach where he gave Ash responsibility for the River Boys. In court, Sam revealed that Brax had stolen money from Dean, which Ash had hidden at the restaurant and which was found by the police. When they tried to arrest Ash too, Brax confessed to killing Dean and was jailed for twenty years.

On arriving in prison, he broke down in horror and had to be dragged into his cell, causing him to temporarily lose visitation rights. Ricky came to see him and told him Ash had asked Denny out but Brax felt Ash would do the right thing. However, when Ash came to see him, he told him that he was seeing Denny and didn’t seem moved by Brax’s attempts to warn him off. The argument was witnessed by another prisoner, Trevor “Gunno” Gunson, who made it clear to Brax that he wasn’t a fan of Ash and would give Brax a hard time if he didn’t feel the same. When he learned Ash was visiting Brax, Gunno arranged for a group of thugs to attack him, sparking off a riot. Friendly guard Gregory Hayes tried to get Brax to tell him what happened but when Brax refused to talk he and Gunno both ended up in solitary confinement. When he was released, Ricky and Nate visited him to warn him he was in danger and Gunno was threatening him in order to get the family to do jobs for him. Brax returned the favour by attacking Gunno in his cell and warning him he’d kill him if he went near his family again.

He was disconcerted when Ricky didn’t show up for her first visit after he got visitation rights back, then had a note pushed under his door telling him he had a son. He called Ricky the next day and heard his son gurgling down the phone. Ricky brought him to see him and he readily accepted her suggestion to name the baby Casey. He called Kyle and Ash to the prison and asked them for help escaping. He reported Gunno’s drug operation to Gregory in order to get a transfer, planning for Kyle and Ash to break him out during the journey. He made a last call to Ricky before the move but had a brief altercation with Gunno as they were leaving, after which they were run off the road by Gunno’s men into a river. Brax saved Gregory but disappeared after going back for the guard. Ash found him at the safe house, where he explained he couldn’t find the driver so split and learned that everyone believed they were both dead. He realised that even if he cleared his name Gunno would come after his family so he had to let him go on believing he was dead, telling Ash not to tell anyone otherwise. He made a brief return visit to town for a last look at Ricky and Casey before driving off.

He maintained contact with Ash and when Ash warned him that Ricky was moving on with Nate he instructed him not to interfere and let her be happy. At the end of the year, he was seen in an unknown location looking at a photo of the family from Heath’s farewell.

In early 2016, Brax came back to see Ricky, telling her that having failed to find Sam he had got a job on a trawler. He asked her and Casey to come away with him but Ricky told him that her relationship with Nate was important to her and she’d been relieved that her life with him was over. Brax asked to see Casey, who was in hospital with viral meningitis, and Ricky told him to come back the next morning. There, he not only met Casey but also, inadvertently, Kyle and Nate, before leaving town again.

He sent Ricky a good luck message shortly before her wedding to Nate, with her replying wishing him to be happy as well, then sent Casey a card on his first birthday. He was summoned back to town by Nate after his and Ricky’s marriage broke down and informed Ricky he had been cleared after Sam confessed. He asked her to go away with him and they and Casey left together.