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Guest Character Profiles > Janine Stark Wilhelmina Stracke

The eldest child of Cheryl and Maurie Stark, Janine joined the navy at a young age and so was rarely around for any of the major events in her family's lives. In 1995, she arrived in Erinsborough to meet her newest sibling, baby Louise, and her mum's new partner, Lou Carpenter, as well as catching up with her mum and two of her other siblings, Brett and Danni, not to mention Cheryl's estranged mum, Marlene, who was now living next-door to her on Ramsay Street.

Janine was quite evasive about her life in the navy, and only briefly mentioned her boyfriend Ross, preferring to talk about what everyone else was up to. It was only when Cheryl received a call from Janine's commanding officer that she realised that her daughter had gone AWOL. Cheryl quickly covered, claiming that she hadn't seen Janine in a while, but then demanded answers from her daughter. Janine explained that she'd found out that Ross had been cheating on her for years, and that everyone had known about it, and that it had all just become too much for her. Although understanding, Cheryl told her daughter that she needed to speak to her seniors before things got any worse. Janine took her mum's advice and was surprised to find that she received sympathy and an offer of counselling if she returned by the end of the week, but was warned that she may also face demotion and the cancellation of her leave privileges.

It was decided that Cheryl and Marlene would drive Janine back to the base, where they could also call in on Janine's other brother, Darren, who was on a prison farm nearby, and Cheryl's brother, Patrick. And so, after the family all celebrated Louise's first birthday together, Janine returned to base with her mother and grandmother. A few weeks later, Cheryl returned with Janine, who'd been given three weeks' compassionate leave from the navy and had finally ended things with cheating Ross. It wasn't long, however, before Ross turned up on Ramsay Street, angrily demanding to see Janine, who wanted nothing to do with him. When he then grabbed her arm and tried to persuade her to go outside and talk to him, Cheryl threw him out, following him to ask what he thought he was going to achieve by turning up. Ross told Cheryl that he just wanted to talk to Janine like adults, but Cheryl advised that her daughter was still very upset and that he should give her some space. As Cheryl then tried to get her daughter to open up about why she seemed so scared of Ross, Janine was reluctant to talk, but then finally showed her mother a scar on her back, explaining that Ross had done it to her, hitting her with a chair.

As Cheryl tried to get Janine to talk to her about what had been happening, Janine wanted to move on and forget about it, but Cheryl pushed until Janine admitted that she'd never felt like she could talk to her mother about her problems, as Cheryl was always more concerned with Darren, Brett and Danni than her. Cheryl insisted that she loved her eldest daughter, but she'd always seemed so carefree and happy and it had never occurred to her that anything was wrong. With Janine still unwilling to talk, Cheryl went to work, as a worried Janine ignored phone calls. When Cheryl and Lou returned home that night, they noticed damage around the front door and found a terrified Janine inside, explaining that a drunk Ross turned up and wouldn't listen to reason. Cheryl was horrified to learn that the abuse had been going on for years and that Janine had tried to leave Ross several times, but he'd always talked her into staying with him. She said that, the final time he'd bashed her, she'd followed him to work and confronted him about his behaviour, leading to him losing his job and him blaming her for destroying his life. As mother and daughter finally started to open up to each other, Cheryl realised just how much she'd neglected her eldest daughter, believing that she was self-sufficient and content when actually she needed just as much love and attention as the others.

Their bonding was interrupted by an angry Ross turning up at the house again and, when Cheryl tried to tell him to leave, he grabbed her, warning that he was going to deal with both her and Janine at once. Fortunately, Lou arrived home just in time and, along with neighbour Philip Martin, managed to get inside and grab Ross before he could hurt either of the women, and he was charged, with a restraining order placed to make sure he didn't go near Janine. After a few more days with her family, Janine made plans to head back to the naval base, with Cheryl happy that they'd managed to talk things through and get to know each other properly. After a farewell party, including a cake shaped like a boat, Lou, Cheryl, Danni, Brett and Louise waved Janine off as she left Ramsay Street. The newfound bond between mother and daughter proved timely as, just a year later, Cheryl was killed, hit by a car as she pulled Louise out of its path.

Episodes Featured
2435, 2436, 2439, 2457, 2458, 2460, 2461, 2462, 2463, 2466, 2470

Biography by Steve

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