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Guest Character Profiles > Justin Hunter Chris Toohey

Justin Hunter 2007-
Siblings: Dale and Wayne
Occupation: Student, Gym Assistant at Dingoes' Den Football & Sporting Club

When tomboy Bridget Parker arrived in Erinsborough, it wasn't long before Zeke Kinski invited her to train with him at the Eastside Dingoes, since there wasn't a girls' team in the area. But fellow player Justin Hunter was disgusted with this development, taking every opportunity he could to make her look weak and, at the end of the training session, warning Zeke not to invite Bridget back. When Justin found out that coach Ken Marshall has asked her to train with them again, he told Zeke to inform Bridget that she wasn't welcome and he was pleased when Bridget failed to arrive for the next session. But, as the team gathered at the Erinsborough Air Guitar Contest at the bar, Justin overheard Bridget mentioning to Zeke that she'd only missed training because he'd failed to tell her when it was, and she'd be along for the next session, so Justin again asked Zeke to break the news to the new girl that she wasn't welcome.

Justin's plan to get rid of Bridget failed, however, as Ken was impressed and invited her to join them for a practice game. Justin took the opportunity to push her about and make her see that she shouldn't be playing on the same team as the boys. Bridget was in for more embarrassment when she was injured during the game and her mum, Miranda rushed onto the pitch to help. At school, Justin took every opportunity to rub it in, suggesting that she'd be better off playing a non-contact sport like netball and pushing her around in the corridor. When Justin pushed Bridget to the ground, her neighbour Declan rushed to her defence, though she quickly warned him that she could fight her own battles.

The rivalry between Justin and Bridget increased, when Bridget was out with Declan in his sports car - a secret gift from his older brother Oliver - and they came across Justin, out with his two older brothers, Dale and Wayne. They were soon challenging each other to a race, at the end of which Bridget snapped and, as the Hunter brothers pulled up next to them, she threw her drink through the open window, ruining the interior of the car. Declan sped off, but the Hunter brothers soon caught up with them, and he and Bridget were forced to get out and make a run for it, later returning to find that his car had been vandalised. Back in Ramsay Street, Justin turned up with a challenge for another drag race, and Declan couldn't resist taking him up on it. This time, however, he and Bridget were horrified when the police gave chase during the race. Relieved to see that they were going after the Hunter brothers, Declan and Bridget quietly headed home, only to find the police waiting there for them, having noted down the car number plate.

The following month, Justin attended the swimming team trials with Declan, Zeke and some of the other guys, but Justin couldn't resist mocking Ringo Brown, who'd spent six months overcoming a fear of water and learning to swim. Justin was quickly put in his place by teacher Daniel Fitzgerald, but when Ringo, who was secretly battling an eating disorder, almost passed out during the time trials and had to be rescued by Daniel, Justin and Ash had a good laugh at Ringo back in the changing rooms. As the swimming trials continued, Justin turned his attentions to Zeke once again, bullying him about his stepmother Susan's recent conviction for dangerous driving. When the taunting became too much, Zeke launched himself at Justin and a fight broke out, with Zeke left to bear the brunt of the punishment.

When word got around that Zeke's sister Rachel had been having an affair with English teacher Angus Henderson, Justin couldn't resist goading her when she came back to school. Rachel did her best to ignore him, but finally snapped and threw a book at him, with Declan then leaping to her defence, causing a fight to break out. The three of them ended up in detention, with Justin spending his in sick bay. The following week, Justin's jibes continued, almost causing a fight with Zeke in the corridor, and Rachel once again failed to control her temper, throwing a bottle of water over Justin in class. As the two of them waited outside the school office, Rachel asked Justin why he hated her so much, and he explained that she did nothing but whinge and moan when she had such a great life; she was clever, with parents who actually cared about her. When Daniel Fitzgerald came out of the office and told Justin that his parents weren't coming to collect him, and he'd have to spend the remainder of the day outside the principal's office, Rachel got a brief insight into why Erinsborough High's loudmouth was the person he was.

A couple of months later and Justin was again causing problems, this time back at the footy club. When coach Steve Parker turned up late, already in a bad mood due to personal problems, and spotted Justin pushing his teammates around, he sent him out to do a lap of the sports oval. Later, Steve's temper got the better of him as he encouraged Justin and the rest of the team to run at him, only for the final person, captain Dan Fitzgerald, to knock Steve down, injuring his arm in the process.

When Angus was released from prison, his relationship with Rachel was soon the source of schoo gossip again, and Justin wasted little time in mocking her whenever he saw her. But things took a sinister turn when she started receiving strange text messages, asking if she was lonely, as she was babysitting at number 32, then the lights went out, and she ended up attacking Ty Harper with a cricket bat as he came home. Though many people suspected Ty of being the stalker, since he'd had a crush on Rachel for a while, she realised that he'd never do something like that, and when Justin couldn't resist taunting her again, she knew who'd been sending the messages. She confronted Justin at school, lying that the police would be able to trace the messages, and he soon confessed and agreed to go to the police himself.

Meanwhile, Justin found himself part-time work at the Dingoes' Den Gym and when he overheard Zeke and Ringo talking about an assignment, and Ringo joking that he'd pay Zeke to write his, as Zeke had already finished, Justin then stepped in, offering Zeke money to write his essays for him. Though Zeke turned him down, when Justin saw that he was unable to pay for his lunch at the General Store, he stepped in again, and Zeke agreed to write the essay for $70. Later, at the gym, he handed it over, and Justin said he had more orders from his mates, threatening violence if Zeke didn't comply. The next day at school, Zeke handed over another essay, while Justin turned his bullying to Bridget, who had returned that day after learning she was pregnant. Justin childishly put a toy doll in her locker, and drew a cartoon of her pushing a pram full of babies on the blackboard. But later, as he tried to stir Didge, and brought up her past involvement in the death of Chris Knight, she snapped and pushed him over, witnessed by principal Andrew Simpson. Already uncomfortable about having a pregnant teenager in the school, Simpson used the incident as an excuse to expel her.

Justin continued to be a bad influence on Zeke when he dragged him, along with Shane Gregory and Erinsborough High newcomer Kyle Canning to a disused factory instead of going to the school's uni info day. Once there, the other three boys left Zeke sitting on top of a wall, removing the crates that he'd climbed up on. Justin offered to help him down, in exchange for his phone, and Zeke agreed, but reneged on the deal, swiping the phone away as Justin went to take it, causing him to fall down a gap in the flooring. With Justin hurt, Zeke managed to pull him up, and the others then dumped him at the hospital before driving off. The following week at school, Andrew banned any pranks on muck-up day, insisting that lessons would continue as normal. But Kyle, Zeke, Shane and Justin had ideas of their own, and ran through the school wearing balaclavas, with cans of silly string and stink gas. Hearing the screams of students and seeing what looked like terrorists running through the school, Andrew contacted the police, but when the real culprits were revealed, Zeke took the blame for everything, and earned all four of them a suspension on the first week back at school.

The following week, the year 11s went on a rafting camp to mark the end of the year, and Kyle was soon causing trouble, taunting Declan Napier about his mum's relationship with Andrew Simpson, and making suggestive comments to Declan's pregnant girlfriend, Bridget. As the two boys started fighting, Andrew suggested that a raft race would be a better way to settle their differences. Unfortunately, with Zeke, Kyle, Justin and Bridget in a raft captained by teacher Libby Kennedy, things went drastically wrong, as they plotted to win and ended up pulling out in front of the second raft, just as they were all reaching the rapids. The stunt backfired badly, as the first raft capsized, and Justin and Kyle made it to the riverbank, but there was no sign of Libby, Zeke or Bridget. Libby and Bridget were both later found on the riverbank, while Zeke was missing for several weeks, eventually found, confused and unwell, having been taken in by a man named Phil Andrews, who saw Zeke as a replacement for his dead son.

Six months later, things at Erinsborough High were back to normal, and Bridget had given birth to a daughter, India. Bridget's first day back at school coincided with new student Kate Ramsay starting. Kate and her siblings had recently been orphaned following the death of their mum, but Justin was far more interested in taking the mickey out of new parents Bridget and Declan, and was particularly amused when Bridget stood up to tell the class about her dramatic labour, only for Amanda to point out the damp patches on her jumper from the milk leaking, with Bridget running from the classroom in horror.

Trivia Notes
• Chris Toohey previously appeared in 2005 as Jake Rinter
• Click here to read our interview with Chris

Episodes Featured
5272, 5282, 5289, 5292, 5295, 5296, 5297, 5306, 5307, 5310, 5334, 5346, 5393, 5398, 5508, 5522, 5524, 5584, 5585, 5593, 5594, 5598, 5604, 5605, 5727

Biography by Steve