Brian Roscoe Brian Roscoe was a husband and father of two who sought assistance from Councillor Deirdre Barlow to get his family re - housed . Originally housed in Murray Street , the Roscoes had been struggling with money and in October 1988 the council had placed them in a seedy tower block , Turner House . A month later , Brian was made redundant , putting further strain on the family . Brian proved to be a handful for Deirdre . An emotionally fragile man , he was constantly angry and bitter , and shouted at the slightest provocation . Once Deirdre agreed to see what she could do for him , he harrassed her with phone calls and kept turning up at 1 Coronation Street . As he ' d had a hard time , Deirdre was patient with him and made arrangements to see the housing manager despite the Roscoes not being a priority as they had only recently been relocated . Brian told Deirdre that living in the " coffin in the sky " Turner House was causing him to row with his wife Angie every five minutes , and making him a bag of nerves at job interviews . Brian was eager to know the result of Deirdre ' s meeting with the housing manager and turned up at No . 1 while she and Ken were out . Tracy let the man wait in the house for Deirdre , however Ken returned home first and threw Brian out . Finding Deirdre in later in the evening , Brian was disappointed and angry to learn that his family definitely wouldn ' t be re - housed until the new year . Losing his rag , Brian bawled at Deirdre for not doing enough for him and stormed out of the house . On Christmas Eve , Brian was having a drink ( one being all he could afford ) in the Rovers Return , where he overheard Alec Gilroy leaning on his staff to work Christmas Day . Jumping at the chance for work , Brian immediately offered to do the shift , however Alec refused as he didn ' t know him . As was becoming a habit , Brian again sounded off about his lousy lot in life and walked out . Later that evening , Brian was surprised to receive a visit from Deirdre at his flat . Fearing they wouldn ' t have much to open the next morning , Deirdre brought with her Christmas presents for his daughters . At first , Brian told Deirdre that his wife and children were out but then admitted that Angie had left him and taken his girls with her , having had enough of living in squalor . Finding Brian wallowing in misery , a sympathetic Deirdre sat with him for a while , but when she made to leave , Brian parked his chair in front of the living room door , with no intention of moving . His actions panicked Deirdre , who feared he was going to assault or rape her , but she put on a show of strength , offering to overlook it if he let her go immediately . As the night wore on and Brian showed no signs of budging , Deirdre lost her nerve and began sobbing , but when Brian continued to sulk and complain about his misfortunes , Deirdre became angry and told him she was sick of him whinging and blaming everybody else , and if he ' d fallen on hard times then it was hard luck . Her outburst giving her extra determination , Deirdre dared him to kill her and grabbed his television . This caused Brian to move away from the door , giving Deirdre her chance to flee . Dropping the TV , she made a dash for it and managed to get out of the flat . Although he did not pursue Deirdre , her escape made Brian more desperate . He later turned up at his in - laws ' house , where Angie was seeking refuge , and attacked his father - in - law while trying to get to Angie . He was subsequently taken into police custody , facing charges of abduction and assault .