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Guest Character Profiles > Dale Linwell Hugh Sexton

Whilst working in the construction industry in Werribee, Cara Varga-Murphy became concerned about the unsafe work practices and reported her bosses, brothers Eric and Dale Linwell. As they awaited a court appearance and likely prison sentence, they started attempting to intimidate Cara, who had moved to Erinsborough with her wife, Remi, and their two sons, JJ and Dex. Though they caused a great deal of distress when they sent an envelope of white powder to the Varga-Murphy house, leaving Remi believing that she'd been exposed to anthrax, Cara went ahead and her evidence sent them to prison. Whilst they were in prison, Dale's wife ended the marriage, leaving the Linwells with further reason to want revenge on Cara.

A couple of years later, Cara had joined the police force and was convinced that the Linwells were connected to a recent series of copper thefts from building sites, with one of their associates, Ricky Denham, having recently been arrested in the area on a separate matter. With Eric and Dale due for parole, she became desperate to prove their guilt and keep them behind bars, despite her bosses warning her against it. After finding out that Ricky's uncle owned a warehouse in Waratah Heights, which was supposedly abandoned, she went there and checked it out, finding a stash of guns and almost being caught by Ricky. As she hid, she recorded him making a call which seemed to indicate that the Linwells had someone on the inside of local government, known as Jonesy. With this evidence, her seniors agreed to put some resources into the case, but when Cara's neighbour, journalist Elle Robinson, saw the police file she decided to use it to relaunch her career, selling the story to The Daily Monster. Though nobody was named, the article was enough for the Linwells to start sending threats to Cara again and Remi, JJ and Dex were sent to stay with family in Apollo Bay for their safety.

Cara then became concerned for her dad when he failed to answer his phone and, with her mum away in Queensland, she decided to go and check on him, arriving at his caravan to find that he'd been knocked unconscious. He told Cara that his attackers had mentioned her name and she took him back to Ramsay Street to look after him, unaware that he was actually working with the Linwells, giving them information about both the police and Elle's investigations, in return for the family leaving Cara alone. After staging a hit-and-run on Power Road, in which Greg managed to push Elle to safety just in time, he gave the police the licence plate of he car involved, leading them to find a hard drive. Unaware that it was all a set-up, the police started following the leads, sending them on a wild goose chase and allowing enough time for Eric and Dale to be released on parole. After Tania, Eric and Dale then appeared at the Lassiters complex, claiming they were there to celebrate with a stay at the hotel, both Greg and Cara were left fearing for their safety. After Tania referred to her as 'shed girl', Cara then opened up to her dad about how she and Tania had been best friends in high school and she'd come out to her, only for Tania to tell everyone at school, warning the girls that Cara would take them behind the shelter shed.

Greg then encouraged his daughter to speak up and, after spotting Tania outside the hotel, Cara confronted her about her behaviour, pointing out how sad it was that she was still using teenage nicknames. She told Tania how she'd made her feel ashamed of herself back then, but now she was proud of her life and she suspected that Tania couldn't say the same thing. With nothing to say in reply, Tania told Eric and Dale that they'd be going to a different hotel and the three of them left. Greg, meanwhile, felt terrible for the way the Linwells were making his daughter feel and, convinced that his presence was now a danger to her, he decided to disappear from town, claiming in a note that he'd decided to go bush. The following week, Cara was horrified to receive the news that her dad's truck had gone over a cliff down the coast and exploded, with the police unable to recover a body.

Andrew and Felix Rodwell soon discovered that Greg had faked his own death, hoping that it would not only help him and his family to escape the clutches of the Linwells but it would also give them the life insurance money, he ended up being reported by Andrew. Andrew had been aware of Greg's involvement with the Linwells for weeks but had kept quiet and risked his police career as Greg was aware of Andrew's affair with neighbour Holly Hoyland and had been blackmailing him. Aware that he could no longer keep Greg's crimes to himself, Andrew confessed everything to his family before telling Cara that Greg was still alive and then reporting him. At the station, Greg and Andrew were finally honest about everything and all three Linwells were picked up by the police and brought to the station, making it very clear that they blamed Cara for what had happened.

Trivia Notes
• Hugh Sexton previously appeared as Jake Nichols in 1998 and as Mitch Foster in 2001 and 2002

Episodes Featured
9335, 9347

Biography by Steve

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