James Cunningham James Cunningham is the son of Lawrence and grandson of Ken Barlow and Susan Cunningham . Ken first discovered in September 2010 that former girlfriend Susan had fallen pregnant and given birth to a son in 1961 . He was surprised to learn that he also had another grandchild by Lawrence . James was gay , which resulted in a strained relationship between father and son . When Ken finally met his new family in 2010 , he was shocked that Lawrence was opposed to James ' s sexuality and tried to unite son and grandson , but Lawrence didn ' t listen and was determined to stand by his views and not let Ken talk him out of it . James worked in a charity shop and shared a flat with another man . Although he wasn ' t happy with the way his dad was against him , he was pleased that his grandfather Ken understood him . In April 2011 , when Roof & Refuge opened up a homeless hostel in Weatherfield and were recruiting workers , James accepted the job . Needing somewhere to stay before he could set somewhere up himself , he turned up at 1 Coronation Street asking Ken if he could move in , although he was thrown by Ken and Deirdre ' s constant bickering and arguing . He started to get to know his neighbours , including Sophie Webster and her girlfriend Sian Powers , who began to show an interest in his charity work . He invited them along , and the pair commencing volunteering there . One day , Sophie and Sian were put in charge for the day running the soup kitchen , but James later turned up at Sophie ' s house announcing that the premises had been broken into and the charity boxes emptied of the cash . Feeling guilty , Sophie gave James her wages from her job at the Corner Shop , much to the disgust of her father Kevin , who told her not to return . However James offered Sophie a full - time position at the soup kitchen , which she accepted , even though Kevin and Sally were against the idea . When James told Sophie that the charity was raising money to open up a homeless hostel , they came up with an idea for a charity auction and Sophie managed to convince Nick Tilsley to hold the auction at The Joinery . They enlisted ex - homeless man ( and ex - Coronation Street resident ) Dennis Tanner to speak about his time being on the streets and how the shelter and soup kitchen had helped him keep going . They managed to raise money , but James stated it wasn ' t enough to bid for the property they were after . Sophie aked Kevin for a loan but he declined . Sophie however transferred £20 , 000 from Kevin ' s bank account to soup kitchen owners Rob and Janet White ' s account . However they didn ' t get the property , but disappeared with the money without trace . Sophie admitted what she did to her dad , and an angry Kevin stormed round to Ken ' s house and confronted James about the money , but he denied knowing where the money was and knew nothing about what had happened . However , James was in fact in on the scam with Rob and Janet and later met up with Rob to get his cut . There was a dispute between them as James only got £3 , 000 , and wanted more for his troubles , but Rob refused as he was a " junior " . James then decided to con the Barlows ; in an attempt to re - mortgage No . 1 , he managed to get Ken and Deirdre away in order for a surveyor to look round at the house . As Amy was dropped off by father Steve McDonald , she wondered who the strange man was and told James she was going to tell her granddad and her mother Tracy . James threatened her , saying he would put Tracy and the rest of her family in prison , scaring the child . When Tracy realised there was something wrong with Amy , she was shocked when Amy revealed what James said , and told Ken and Deirdre . However , James managed to talk his way out of it , claiming Tracy was making it up . When a letter arrived for Ken with a cheque for £50 , 000 , he began to question James over it . Knowing he couldn ' t fool Ken anymore , he admitted his plan and blamed all his troubles on his father Lawrence , and Ken for sleeping with Susan . James showed no remorse for his actions and admitting that he would con again , Ken decided to phone the police . James attempted to stop him , and ended up banging Ken ' s head on the wall knocking him out . James then packed his bags and fled before alarms were raised . The residents of the Street were shocked to hear about what James had done , although Ken refused to phone the Police believing James would be guilty of what he had done . Kevin Webster however reported James to the police after finding out . List of appearances . 2010 2011