David Langham

David Langham arrived at Yabbie Creek station as the new sergeant. He took an instant dislike to Cash, questioning him about his history (such as being suspected of assaulting Eden’s boyfriend and hiding Dana from corrupt officers), before bringing up him recently bringing Tane along on a police rescue. He was momentarily distracted by the name Lacey Miller in the file and had Cash bring her in. It was revealed she was actually David’s estranged daughter, who had recently taken to using her mother’s maiden name, and she quickly left. Tane turned up to try and plead Cash’s case but David only really listened to the parts that supported his own assessment. He decided not to take formal steps but put Cash on traffic duty.

David was soon reunited with his other daughter Jo and clashed with Tane again when Tane fixed Jo’s broken down car without permission, although David acknowledged he’d done a good job. When Lacey and Jo were brought to the station after fighting, David tried to deal with the matter quietly but the full story spilled out: Jo had crashed her car into a tree, killing the girls’ mother, and although David had always maintained it was an accident, Lacey suspected him of covering up the fact Jo was at fault.

David sent Constable Tom Bowman to move on a homeless woman, Samantha Luther, but had to intervene when she first refused to co-operate and then turned out to have stolen mobile phones on her. David took her son Cohen to Roo, who had been assigned as his emergency foster carer while Samantha was on remand. When Samantha gave up parental rights, David was given the job of tracking down Cohen’s grandmother. Cash discovered she lived in Queanbeyan, not Canberra as had been believed, but David berated him for involving himself in the case. After Harper told him Cash had been in foster care, David bought Cash beers as a thank you.

David received the news that Cohen’s grandmother had died recently of cancer. He went to investigate when Theo was mugged but took himself off the case when Lacey objected. He received the news that the old family home had been sold and gave Lacey a box of her things. She was willing to talk to him in the aftermath but clammed up when he got her and Jo confused when recalling how she got her ballet shoes. He offered her $100,000 from the house sale but she refused it, instead asking for her mother’s eternity ring. David had already given it to Jo and the girls ended up agreeing he should have it. Lacey agreed to take the money after all. David continued to look into Cohen’s background and met with Adrian Purcell, who had been with Samantha when she was pregnant and might be his father. He tried to keep Adrian away from Cohen until it was confirmed and attended an open house at Irene’s, putting in an offer which was accepted. He made a late appearance at Irene’s farewell meal.

He collected the keys to the beach house and gave one to Lacey. She refused to move in with them but did let him take her on a tour. Roo asked him for Adrian’s address when he disappeared. David was initially reluctant, since it was against protocol, but after a chat with Cash, he quietly handed it over. He lost the progress he’d made with Lacey by shutting down the music at a party at her flat. He and Cash arrested Bart Ainsworth, who had stabbed Bree, and he invited himself along to a poker game with Alf, John and Justin. When it was suggested that answers about Kristina’s death were the only thing that could make Lacey reconcile with them, David requested the case file but Jo was upset when she found it, accusing him of not believing her. With Lacey and Theo also aware, he explained to his daughters that he’d never properly looked at the case and wanted to check nothing was missed so they could move on. He looked into who called the ambulance and was stunned to learn it was Jo, who couldn’t remember it. When he found nothing further, he was left feeling he’d raised everyone’s hopes unnecessarily. John and Justin brought some beers round to counsel him.

Jo told him she was going to try hypnotherapy to remember the crash and he agreed on condition it was done at the station under his supervision. Jo remembered another car swerving in front of them and causing the crash and David organised a search, He was furious when Cash mentioned it to Lacey but Cash helped identify a suspect, Craig Wendell, a local councillor who’d sold a car that matched the one Jo remembered seeing six days later. David spoke to Wendell who only gave vague answers after which both David’s superior Superintendent Willis and Wendell’s lawyer Kim Knight told him to drop the case. He tried to keep it from Lacey and Jo but they found out and showed him evidence that Wendell had attended Kristina’s funeral. Justin and Leah alerted him to the fact Lacey had taken Theo to meet Wendell but it was too late: He arrived to find Wendell had run over and killed Theo. Leah, who was hostile towards Lacey for her role in things, insisted David explain what had happened to Theo’s mother Cassandra. Cash queried Wendell being at Kristina’s funeral and David was forced to admit he might have been feeling guilty and might do the same with Theo. He and Cash saw Wendell approaching the funeral and arrested him, with Cash having to stop David being too aggressive after Wendell attempted to run. David confronted Wendell with evidence, including his car being recovered, and Wendell eventually confessed. Afterwards, Lacey moved in with David and Jo.

David was bothered by journalist Peter Rolfe, who was looking into the Wendell case. He became concerned about Jo spending time with Tane on learning he was serving a suspended sentence for kidnapping, telling Tane that Jo deserved someone less complicated. He helped Lacey mark Theo’s birthday then witnessed Leah being aggressive towards Lacey again. He wanted to take out an AVO against her but Lacey refused, and he let her off with a warning when she was arrested for causing trouble at the newspaper office. He was pleased to be reunited with Eddie Shepherd, Jo’s old boyfriend, and brought him to the house to reconnect with her. He spoke to Leah, Lacey and Jo about recording victim impact statements before Justin convinced him he should do one as well. Eden spoke to him about setting up a police volunteer programme which Cash tried to talk him out of. He invited Eddie over for a family barbecue and told Jo that he and Kristina had given Eddie their blessing to propose to her just before Kristina died. He was annoyed when he enquired about Wendell’s sentencing hearing and was told it had already started but learned he’d got twenty-five years without parole. He gave Eden the study material for the programme, even though it hadn’t been approved. When Lacey queried the fact that Eddie hadn’t fought for Jo, David cooled towards him slightly, especially when he learned Jo had been with Tane and he hadn’t known. When Eddie asked for his blessing to propose again, he simply said it was Jo’s choice.