Miles 'Milco' Copeland
Josh Quong Tart, Ryley Mickle (3 Yrs Old), Jackson Edwards (8 Yrs Old)
Parents: Aaron and Diana Copeland
Siblings: Sally Copeland
Marital Status: Louise Copeland (deceased)
Children: Amber Copeland (deceased)
Occupation: High School Teacher
Episodes: Pilot - 50, 4560 - Present
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.