Miles 'Milco' Copeland (2007-)
Josh Quong Tart, Ryley Mickle (3 Yrs Old), Jackson Edwards (8 Yrs Old)
Episodes: 4560 - Present
Parents: Aaron and Diana Copeland
Siblings: Sally Copeland
Marital Status: Louise Copeland (deceased)
Children: Amber Copeland (deceased)
Occupation: High School Teacher
Miles Copeland was born on 9th February 1979, along with his twin sister Sally. Miles and Sally spent the first 3 years of their lives together, Sally's small tongue making 'Milco' out of Miles Copeland, a nickname his father Aaron continued to use. His parents marriage was unhappy, Aaron being a violent drunk, frequently hitting Diana in his drunken states. Eventually when the twins were three, Diana had had enough, threatening to leave and deny him access to the children. Aaron took matters into his own hands, and ran away with Miles in the middle of the night, leaving Sally after deciding that the road was no place for a young girl. He lived outside the system so he could not be found by authorities.
In the years that followed Miles lived two lives, his first as Sally's imaginary friend. Tom and Pippa indulged Sally's imaginary friend, believing him to be someone of comfort to her when she was feeling sad or lonely. He was regularly forgotten by Tom and Pippa but Sally always defended him, insisting that it was him who wanted to move to Summer Bay. He was left behind in the Pilot Episode and the family had to go back for him and Sally explained he was afraid of the dark. He caused an argument when Sally insisted he be given a vote in the decision of whether Bobby came to live with them or not. Pippa then came and appealed to Milco to give Bobby a go and Milco changed his mind. Tom explained to Steven that Milco had been Sally's only friend during a difficult time of her life. When Neville told Sally about Mr Haggis living in his bagpipes and later admitted he was made up Sally stopped believing in Milco. He made a reappearance a year later when tom was missing, presumed dead in a storm but disappeared again when Dodge forced her to admit that he was made up.
Meanwhile, real Milco, Miles was living with his father, constantly on the move from the authorities when his father Aaron found an old newspaper article, reporting the death of Diana and her new husband Derek Wilson in a boating accident on the Barton River a few years earlier. Knowing that Sally would now be considered an orphan, he set about trying to find her. He took Miles to visit his grandmother, Mrs Keating, only to find the house had new owners, who told them that Sally had been fostered out. They tracked Mrs Keating down to a local nursing home where they found she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer Disease. From the staff, they found out that Sally had been fostered by a couple in the city called the Fletchers, and were given an address to find them. However on arriving in the city they found that they were a week too late. The house was empty and a neighbour told them that the Fletchers had moved to a place called Summer Bay.
Aaron took Miles to Summer Bay, where Miles was looking forward to finally seeing his sister again. However once Aaron had seen Summer Bay, coupled with the glowing comments he had heard about Sally's new foster family, he decided that Sally would have a better life with the Fletchers. They left the bay without seeing Sally.
Following that, Aaron descended into a downward spiral. He stopped going to work and his drinking increased. Eventually, in 2000, when Miles was 19, Aaron died of alcohol related dementia.
Miles thought about trying to track down Sally, but had no idea where she was. He remembered going to Summer Bay when he was 8 years old, but to him it was just another town. Following his father's death he decided it was time to start living his life properly. He started working as a High School teacher, and fell in love with a young woman named Louise. They married and had a daughter Amber.
Unfortunately Miles' happiness was short lived. In 2004, on Boxing Day, the family were on holiday in the Thailand resort of Phuket when the tsunami hit. They tried their hardest to run back to the resort but they weren't fast enough. Louise and Amber were killed.
After that Miles' life fell apart, he returned to Australia and he had nothing left. He couldn't return to his job and began to drink - he became the man that he promised himself he never would be, his father. Eventually, he just walked away from his life completely, becoming a homeless guy drifting from town to town.
One day Miles arrived in Summer Bay, immediately remembering the town from his childhood. Part of him thought he should move on, but he decided to try and find Sally in an attempt to get his life back together.
Miles ended up outside on the beach outside the Beachside Diner, looking through the bins for something to eat. Roman took pity on him and told him to meet him around the back where he would give him some food, much to Irene's annoyance. Later on, he asked Roman if he knew where Sally lived, finding out that she lived at the Caravan Park.
The next day Miles came across Sally playing with Pippa on the beach, the first time he'd seen his twin sister in nearly 25 years. Rather than approaching her, he decided to write 'MILCO' in the sand, to see what her reaction would be. He hid in the bushes as Sally found the word, causing her much confusion.
He approached The Caravan Park and was given a van by Sally. He cleaned himself up and he and Sally grew close with her admitting to her counsellor that they had a connection. Miles confided in her that they had many similarities such as both being teachers and him having lost his wife. He finally told her the truth about his wife and daughter's death and Sally was supportive. This gave him courage and in an emotional episode Miles told Sally everything about their past.
Initially refusing to believe him, Sally then got her own memory back and recalled that Miles was her twin brother. Delighted at having a brother Sally told everyone she could think of and happily introduced him to all her friends and family. When Johnny Cooper escaped from prison Miles insisted on escorting her around time and blamed himself for opening the door the night Johnny forced his way in and stabbed Sally. He was relieved when she pulled through and in the aftermath formed a bond with Sally's foster mother Pippa. With Sally safe and well he decided to get his life back on track and approached Martin Bartlett about a teaching job at Dan Baker's memorial.
He was given a hard time on his first day at school by Aden but won the rest of the pupils around by organising a farewell concert for Sally who had decided to leave the bay. The concert was a success and Miles said a fond farewell to his newfound sister and was touched when she signed over half of the caravan park to him, cementing his place in the bay.
He developed an infatuation with Leah and was crushed when she seemed to close off on him but when he finally confronted her she admitted she did have feelings for him but it was too soon after Dan so they agreed to be friends. Opening up to Morag about his past, Miles asked for her help in locating Jai, a boy who had been orphaned in Thailand and who he had promised to help but had later abandoned. They located him but Jai did not make things easy and though he consented to live with Miles, their relationship was initially fraught but after Axel's death, Jai opened up and their relation ship is now a strong one.
He nearly lost his career when his decision to introduce a new book to the curriculum caused outcry among parents led by Christine Jones who publicly burnt the book. It took Morag's defence of him to save his career.
After giving Kirsty a place to stay they grew closer, eventually sharing a kiss. They were forced to go public when Annie mistakenly thought that Miles was kissing Ruby and as their relationship developed Miles told Kirsty he loved her. He was unaware though that Kirsty was secretly in contact with Kane and doing escort work to raise money for his defence and when he found out he was livid and kicked her out.
He took in Melody after she needed a place to stay but so far she caused him no end of problems, skipping out, rebelling and getting involved with drugs. Things did look up for Miles towards the end of his first year when he forgave Kirsty only to find out that Kane was back in the bay.
Upset by Kirsty's inability to make a decision and with Kane asking him to do the right thing, Miles told Kirsty she should go with Kane and was devastated when she left him. He had his hands full with Melody though who continued to play up. After an observation by Rachel that she only responded to strict discipline because that was what she was used to, Miles had a heart to heart with her and thought he had made progress. The next day Melody ran away and Miles with the help of Charlie, followed her to Melbourne.
In Melbourne he and Charlie shared a kiss as he told her stories of his time on the streets and they eventually found Melody and took her home. He supported her during her decision to go and live with her mother in New Zealand and told her he loved her. When Kirsty returned to the bay but not to him, he was angry and made it clear that he didn't want her around. Being hit by an angry Kane and forced by Kirsty to admit that there was nothing going on between them, Miles reacted angrily to Kirsty. They came close to talking whilst locked in a closet but the moment was ruined by Bartlett and the animosity quickly resumed.
Seeing her tutoring Trey Palmer and overhearing Trey bragging about a relationship with Kirsty, Miles tried to warn her but she angrily insisted he back off. He later walked in on Trey trying to kiss her and an upset Kirsty ranted to him about how she had messed everything up and lost everyone including Miles. Miles told her he hadn't lost her and when Olly ran to him, Kirsty and Miles reunited.
She moved back into the Caravan Park and he supported her through Trey's allegations despite her underhanded attempts to clear her name. When Trey threatened her he pushed Trey away, dislocating his shoulder and causing himself to be put under investigation. The Department interviews didn't go well but after realising something from Trey's past Miles was able to get him to open up and drop the charges.
He tried to support Roman after his accident but found himself increasingly shut out. He gave aden a caravan when Roman kicked him out and spent time with VJ in Roman's place. He took an instant dislike to Roman's army friend Gardy after a night in the surf club and was Nicole's chief confidante after Roman refused to listen that Gardy was making passes at her. He was playing football with VJ when they discovered a severed hand on the beach and called the police. The hand turned out to be the result of a shark attack and cancellations for the caravan park flooded in. Miles took a boat out with Alf and Hugo to hunt the shark but fell overboard and was terrified of being eaten. Alf and Hugo managed to get him back aboard but soon afterwards discovered the body of Lou de Bono.
Roman confided in Miles that Gardy was threatening him into joining him in a series of robberies over an incident in Aghanistan where he killed one of his men. Miles agreed to keep quiet, especially after Gardy threatened his family as well, and when Roman sent him a text message about one of the robberies he gave the police an anonymous tip. He gave Roman one day to deal with Gardy himself and, when Roman subsequently disappeared and Gardy sent him his smashed phone via Jai, Miles told Charlie everything he knew but was upset when, even though the tip helped save his life, Roman was charged with murder and remanded in custody. He promised to look after Nicole for him. He was later at the hospital when he found Rachel dizzy and bleeding and stayed at her side when Tony couldn't be found.
Miles asked Kirsty to try for a baby and, after some initial reluctance, she finally agreed. However, after he had persuaded Kirsty to accompany them on the school trek, Miles discovered she was still taking the Pill. They had little time to discuss it when Jai and Annie went missing. Miles spent the night looking for them before heading out again with Martin, finding them and thus missing the bomb drama going on with the main group. Kirsty admitted she had only agreed to try for a baby because she thought Miles would leave her if she didn't. He assured her that wasn't true and supported her when she decided to go to uni and train to be a teacher.
However, Miles soon began to resent Kirsty's new life. After she and her new friends set up camp in the front room, drinking and playing music until late at night while Ollie, Jai and Nicole were upstairs, Miles finally snapped and threw them out. He and Kirsty continued to argue about the lack of time she spent with the family because of her uni work and her new friends and he felt guilty when he ended up forgetting Nicole's birthday. He planned a picnic for him and Kirsty to try and smooth things over but Leah told him she had seen Kirsty hiding from him with one of her friends, Justin, and he accused her of having an affair. When Jai told him she was actually pregnant, Miles was delighted but Kirsty felt they weren't in the right place to have a baby. She eventually told him she would keep the pregnancy but wasn't happy about it.
Miles continued to be excited about the news and accompanied a somewhat apathetic Kirsty to her 12-week scan. When Irene told him Nicole and Sid were having an affair, he went round to confront Sid and, even though he told him he'd turned Nicole down, he ended up pushing him into the swimming pool. In the end, he accepted Sid's explanation and enlisted his help to put an end to Nicole's infatuation, with the two of them parting on good terms. Afterwards, he told everyone in the Diner about the baby, against Kirsty's wishes, and was left feeling guilty when she left upset. However, when Kirsty told Ollie the news and he seemed happy about it, they finally settled into being a family. Miles asked Kirsty to marry him but she turned him down. She later agreed they could get married if it meant a lot to him but he replied that being together was what was important.
Miles gained another house guest when Jai's friend Romeo moved in with them. He accompanied Romeo to check out his new job and was surprised when his employer turned out to be Liam. Although he was willing to give him a chance, he wasn't happy about the news that he had slept with Nicole but decided against interfering when they got back together. Martin offered him the post of acting principal when he went on leave but he turned it down and was bemused by the tension between Jai and Romeo. He suggested he and Kirsty could babysit Harry for Tony and Rachel and managed to coax him to sleep with an impromptu gorilla impersonation. However, that evening, Kirsty collapsed, fitting. She was rushed to hospital where a further fit caused her to miscarry. Miles struggled to hold things together but managed to persuade Jai not to cancel an exchange trip to Japan, which he had encouraged him to apply for. But when Kirsty came home, she was increasingly distant from him. When Colleen noted a girl needed her mother at times like that, Miles contacted Shelley. He was pleased when Kirsty's mood seemed to improve but when he returned home that night from a meeting, he found an empty house and a letter from Kirsty saying she and Ollie had gone to live with her family in the city and asking him not to come after her.
Faced with this further setback, Miles became increasingly withdrawn, wandering around in a scruffy and unshaven state. He came to Ruby's rescue when she collapsed from low blood sugar at school and was annoyed when someone threw a water bomb at his car, especially when he discovered it was VJ. When Romeo discovered VJ was being bullied, Miles and Leah went to see Ian Radcliffe, the father of chief bully Riley, but he laughed off their concerns. When Miles was attacked and beaten, he assumed Ian was responsible and was astonished when VJ told him it was actually Riley and his mates. He tried to drag Riley down the police station and when the boy turned up with a broken wrist, he was charged with assault and suspended from work.
With the newspaper branding him a thug, Ian offered to drop the charges if Miles paid him off. Miles realised Ian was responsible for Riley's injuries but even after the truth came out and the charges were dropped, he still felt a failure. He trashed a classroom after seeing a photo of Kirsty in the school yearbook and Gina forced him to take leave, only allowing him to attend the school formal in an unofficial capacity. He finally hit rock bottom when he made a pass at Leah after misreading the signals and she rejected him. After getting drunk at the town Christmas party, he spent the night crying on the beach. He awoke the next morning to find a young girl named Rabbit standing over him and to discover that Hugo had apparently been killed. The two incidents, along with Rabbit's continued presence at the caravan park, convinced him his life wasn't so bad after all and he made his peace with Leah. He also let Mink stay at the caravan park house when she arrived in town but regretted the fact he didn't really do anything to help her with her problems.
Soon after, Rabbit told him she had visions of the future and mentioned people being scared, surrounded by flames and hiding under tables. Although not convinced, he went to the Diner and stumbled upon the race riot, where he managed to disperse the mob by calling out the police were coming. Miles seemed to have regained his senses, helping Alf out of his lethargy over the incident, although he ended up losing his temper over his constant negativity and telling him if he didn't improve he should carry through on his threat to leave town, as well as supporting Leah over her agoraphobia and accompanying her to see Hazem in hospital. He was disturbed when Rabbit told him he would die if he fell asleep and stayed awake for two days, drinking lots of coffee, until he reached the stage where he couldn't sleep for any length of time and kept falling asleep at inopportune moments. Rabbit suggested that he set his alarm to go off every hour and wake him up and after he fell asleep in an empty classroom the alarm revived him and he got up to leave... just as a ceiling fan landed where he'd been sitting.
Miles met Elijah for the first time when he came to book some caravans for a retreat and was bemused by his comments about vicars not earning much money and getting the ladies although he was soon teasing Leah about her supposed crush on him. He overheard her admitting it was true to Irene and encouraged her to be honest with Elijah. Instead, he accidentally ended up telling him himself, thinking Leah had already done so. Then Elijah confessed to Miles that he too had feelings for Leah but was keeping something secret from her. After getting conflicting advice from Alf and Angelo, Miles agreed to go along with Rabbit's advice and invite them both around to dinner only to discover Rabbit had locked them in a caravan together. He then admitted to Leah that he had told Elijah how she felt and was upset when she refused to talk to him, then when they made up he accidentally told her about Elijah's feelings. He admitted what he'd done to Elijah, who then revealed that he had been with Vinnie when he died eighteen months previous. This resulted in him trying to dissuade Leah from pursuing the relationship whilst advising Elijah to be honest. He also tried to talk Angelo out of spying on Charlie and was amused when it all went belly up for him.
When Marilyn moved into the house, Miles, who continued to appear stressed and jittery, found her health food kick and odd behaviour rather wearing and they clashed repeatedly while he also advised Romeo over his fears about the school play. He tried to make his peace with Marilyn after having a go at her for getting rid of his breakfast cereal but when she criticised his moods he snapped at her and told her to leave; after getting a roasting from Alf, he apologised and persuaded her to stay. He also had to deal with a spate of graffiti at the caravan park and around town and began to suspect Rabbit was responsible when he noticed the paint was the same colour as her top. He staked the place out with Aden; when Aden fell asleep, he saw Rabbit spray one of the caravans but the following morning she denied it. Some time later, Marilyn came across Miles doing the graffiti, appearing very agitated. When Marilyn saw one of his drawings of Rabbit and said she'd been having dreams about her, Miles insisted that was impossible... and it became clear why when Alf and Marilyn came across him talking to Rabbit, who had spent the day prompting him to talk to other people, except neither of them could see her.
Miles refused to discuss the matter and ended up taking a minor fall down some stairs when Rabbit wouldn't get out of his way, injuring his ankle. At Rabbit's insistence, he told Alf, Marilyn and Rachel that she was the ghost of his dead daughter Amber but refused to go to a hospital, insisting Rabbit kept him sane and he liked having her in his life. He was persuaded to go and see counsellor Michael Patton after Rachel introduced them in the Diner and after his behaviour at school had become increasing erratic. Michael felt he had been having psychotic episodes and prescribed him medication. Miles took the pills to see if they would have any effect and when Rabbit begged him not to, calling him "Daddy", he replied that he wasn't her daddy. He was shocked when Rabbit disappeared and, when Elijah tried to reassure him, he insisted Rabbit had done no harm and was his friend. He was delighted when he ran into her again on the beach a few hours later.
Convinced that this "proved" she was real, he stopped taking the medication, managing to fool everyone until Marilyn overheard him talking to her, and, when Michael tried to order a blood test to see if the levels were right, he stopped seeing him, even after Marilyn tried to talk him round by confessing she was dying. He continued trying to hide Rabbit from Alf and Martha, although they soon realised something was going on. When he was seen talking to Rabbit at school, Gina tried to get him to go to a psych assessment. He said he would only agree if the rest of the staff were assessed as well, then told her Rabbit was his guardian angel, at which she was forced to suspend him. He admitted to Martha that he felt he didn't have a life without teaching and even considered resigning. He was annoyed when his commitment to Rabbit resulted in having to bail from watching the school play, after another member of the audience nearly sat on her.
Rebutting Elijah's attempts to counsel him about blind faith, Miles then began receiving visions himself, including one where he saw Leah, Elijah and a group of school children lying unconscious. On being told they had gone on a trip to some caves, he followed them and, partly because of Rabbit's assistance, managed to find them in a barn, passed out from a gas leak. The following day, Rabbit invited him down to the beach where they had first met for a farewell, where they built a sand castle together. Rabbit told him her mother was waiting for her and he briefly saw a brown-haired woman by the sea before they both disappeared. Afterwards, he went back to Michael and was given a clean bill of health. He asked to return to school but although Gina was happy to have him back the P&C had their doubts with parents threatening to remove their children from his classes. He tried to convince their representative that he'd received help and wasn't stressed anymore but was unable to guarantee it wouldn't happen again; however, Romeo and Nicole arranged for the rest of the students to appear outside the meeting to demonstrate they all wanted Miles back and he was reinstated.
He advised Leah and Elijah over their engagement and parental difficulties, including encouraging Elijah to lie to his parents about telling them they were difficult to handle. When he learned about Romeo's failed attempts to contact his mum, he offered him support. He also cut through one of Jill's complaints about the world being against her, telling her it wasn't all about her, which helped inspire her to try and change, and was happy for her to stay at the house. He almost instantly felt uncomfortable about Penn's presence at the caravan park but gave Nicole information about him. He tried to emotionally blackmail Marilyn into helping out at the bait shop and then talked Alf into agreeing to her fortune telling idea. He was annoyed with Colleen's letter to the paper about the plans and had a go at her in the Diner; he later went back to apologise but when she seemed unrepentant he then let slip that she was dying. He took his feelings out on Nicole, Penn and Sid, who reminded him he used to be sensitive and supportive and not a bully, before extending an olive branch to Marilyn by arranging for Nicole and Penn to be her first customers. He also tried to counsel Angelo about having to leave the police force.