Jim McDonald James " Jim " McDonald is the father of Steve and Andy and ex - husband of Liz . Before moving to Coronation Street in 1989 , Jim served with the Royal Engineers . On civvy street , he worked as a builder , mechanic and repairman and briefly managed The Queens pub with Liz in 1993 . Jim ' s cool reserve hid a temper which flared up violently when his family or pride were hurt . He and Liz had a stormy relationship ; Jim ' s fists and his paranoia over Liz ' s affairs drove them apart but they always reconciled . Their first marriage ended in 1996 after Jim hit Liz when she confessed to a fling with his colleague Johnny Johnson years earlier . They re - married in 2000 prior to Jim being sentenced of the manslaughter of drug dealer Jez Quigley , who had beaten up Steve . They split again in 2005 when Liz had enough of waiting for Jim . He was released from Highmoor Prison in 2007 and remained a free man until 2011 , when he was given a seven - year sentence for trying to rob a branch of the Lancashire & Fyle Building Society to give Liz enough money to buy the Rovers Return . Jim hails from Northern Ireland and was noted for his usage of Irish sayings like finishing his sentences with " so it is " and calling people by their full forenames . Biography . 1955 - 1999 : Marriage to Liz . Jim married Liz Greenwood in 1974 when they had twin sons , Andy and Steve . Jim served in the army for a few years and later moved back to Weatherfield with his wife and sons in 1989 . Jim got a job as a mechanic working for Kevin Webster in 1992 , but tragedy struck when Liz and Jim lost their premature baby daughter Katie , which led to a temporary split . In February 1996 , Liz confessed to having an affair with Johnny Johnson as they were heading back home from attending an Army reunion in Macclesfield . Angered , Jim shouted verbal abuse , dragged Liz from the car and hit her . He then left her lying in the road ; she had to make her own way home . Jim later tried to break into their house with a snooker cue rest . He was arrested and a restraining order was placed on him . He subsequently spent three weeks in Strangeways Jail . In 1998 , Jim suffered serious injuries when he fell from scaffolding after a brawl with Steve and was confined to a wheelchair . He was assigned occupational therapist Michael Wall who helped him to walk again . With Michael a near enough permanent fixture at the house , Michael and Liz embarked on an affair and upon learning about his wife ' s deceit an angry Jim threw Liz out the house . She and Michael left for Milton Keynes . 2000 - 2007 : Prison sentence . In 2000 , Steve got beaten up by drug dealer and gangster Jez Quigley as Jez discovered that Steve testified against him for killing Tony Horrocks . In revenge , Jim went round to Jez ' s flat and severely beat him . Jez died later in Weatherfield General from a ruptured spleen - and after Jez attempted to kill Steve in his hospital bed , Jim handed himself into the police and was remanded in custody . Liz returned and the pair reconciled before remarrying in November 2000 before his trial . Jim was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter . Three years into his sentence , Jim feared that Liz was having an affair with Laurie Dyson , manager of The Black Dog pub in Blackpool , where Liz was now employed . Jim broke out of Holmes Gate Prison and with the help of Steve , went to Blackpool to meet Liz . Jim and Liz planned on fleeing to Ireland and looked forward to life as fugitives , however the pair stopped to help Ashley Peacock and Claire Casey who were trapped adrift on a boat . When they got back to the marina , Jim was arrested and sent back to prison . In 2005 , he was eligible to be released on parole , but this was overturned as he had beaten up a cellmate . Liz visited him and requested a divorce for the second time . 2007 - 2010 : Release . Jim was eventually released early in November 2007 for good behaviour . He appeared to be a changed man and Steve gave him a job at Street Cars , and he was able to see his granddaughter Amy . However , Jim still had feelings for his ex - wife Liz , who was set to marry Vernon Tomlin . On the day of Liz and Vernon ' s wedding , Jim declared his undying love for her and they kissed , which ended with Vernon launching at Jim . Steve interrupted and broke up the fight and told Jim that he was not welcome with them . Jim soon left the area . However in August 2009 he returned along with son Andy for Steve ' s wedding to Becky Granger . When Becky was arrested due to drugs being planted at the pub by her ex - drug dealing boyfriend Slug , Jim suggested to Steve that he put photographs in his cabs in case people recognised him . With that he left once again with Andy and went to Spain . He turned up a year later for his birthday to visit everyone , but wanted to see Liz in particular and wasn ' t happy about Liz ' s new boyfriend Owen Armstrong . Annoyed by Jim turning up looking for Liz , Owen hired some of his builders to beat Jim up , putting him in hospital . Steve went to see him and when Jim was discharged , he warned Steve about Owen . Sometime later , Owen was told by Steve that Liz wanted nothing to do with him . 2011 - 2016 : Back in the big house . In 2011 , Jim returned again when Liz had fallen out with Steve and Becky as it was believed that Becky was making a mess of her son ' s life . After a talk with Liz , Steve came up with a plan to buy the Rovers to pay off his debts , as he had got into financial problems when the pair " bought " nephew Max Turner from Becky ' s half - sister Kylie . Steve was angered by the idea and felt betrayed . However , when Becky came up with an idea to run off to Spain with Max and Amy to get away from both Kylie and Tracy , Steve agreed to sell the pub to Jim . His parents accepted the idea of Steve , Becky and the children running away , and looked forward to running the pub together and giving their relationship another go . However Jim was having problems with getting the money . On the day when Steve and Becky planned on fleeing , Jim was unable to make up the money for the pub . He met up with former cellmate Spoony , who presented him with a shotgun . He then went to a branch of Lancashire & Fyle Building Society intent on robbing it so he could get the £120 , 000 to buy the pub . However , the panic button was pressed and Jim ended up taking everyone in the bank hostage as the police arrived . Liz and Steve were called to the scene and Liz managed to talk Jim out through the phone . Jim let the hostages go and planned on killing himself , but decided to give himself up . He was arrested and put into a police car , and told Liz he was very sorry for everything . She visited him in Strangeways and promised that she would wait for him when he would be released . However later that night , she left the Street , and Steve visited him the next day with a letter she left for him and Jim blamed himself for everything . Jim was given a sentence of a minimum of seven years ' imprisonment . Steve was the only one to attend the trial ; Liz chose not to return as she felt it would be too humiliating . Jim was upset by the snub and told Steve he wanted nothing more to do with any of his family . While serving out the remainder of his sentence in Highfield Prison , Jim began selling alcohol under the name " The Landlord " and had built a reputation up for himself . In August 2014 , he was approached by alcoholic Peter Barlow who was on remand for murdering Tina McIntyre . Jim decided to comply with his " requests " as he was a friend of son Steve , but told Peter that he would be expecting payment . Over time Peter became dependent on Jim and was suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms ( seemingly unnoticed by Jim ) . He then made a proposition to Peter - get him back in contact with Liz and Steve in exchange for more drink . Peter made a call to Steve begging him to visit him , and asked for him to visit his father . However Jim was instead visited by Liz who then told Jim to leave her and Steve alone . Angry Jim refused Peter more booze as he hadn ' t fulfilled his side of the deal . Jim later found Peter collapsed in the prison kitchens having found the booze , and summoned help . This earned his respect from Steve , who decided to make amends with his father for saving Peter ' s life . When Peter was discharged from Weatherfield General and was returned to prison , Jim warned him that the other prisoners weren ' t happy for Peter drinking most of the supply , and goaded him that his family was visiting , but Peter had no one . In revenge Peter told Tracy that Jim had supplied him with the booze , and in turn told Steve who again cut contact with his father . Angry Jim arranged for Peter to be beaten up . In the aftermath of Peter ' s beating , Liz turned up at the prison for Deirdre ' s sake to beg Jim to leave Peter alone . Jim then resorted to blackmail , telling Liz to visit him in exchange for Peter being left alone . Liz complied , however when it began driving a wedge between her and partner Tony Stewart , she decided to cut off contact with Jim . Still not wanting to lose her , Jim acquired a mobile phone and continued to harass Liz . When she visited him to ask him to stop , a delighted Jim informed her that he may be moved to an open prison soon , meaning that he could come and visit her . When this information got back to Steve who felt used by Jim , he turned up at the prison and reported Jim for illegally using a mobile phone and harassing Liz . An angered Jim had to be dragged away by prison guards as he swore revenge on Steve , with his sentence most likely being extended for his illegal activities . Jim was hospitalised and diagnosed with Myotonic Dystrophy in October 2016 . After his diagnosis , Jim promptly rang Steve to tell him that there was a 50 % chance that he would have the condition too . Quotes . " Hi . Listen , sorry just to drop in on you like this but we ' ve just seen your house in the estate agent window and was wondering if we could have a wee look around . " ( First line , to Audrey Roberts ) " Come here Liz , I ' ll kill you ! " ( after first being arrested ) " Look all I ' m trying to do is speak to my wife , okay ? Now if that ' s a crime , I ' m as guilty as hell ! " ( to a policeman while being arrested for hounding Liz in the Rovers ) " Elizabeth , I ' m sorry ! " ( before being arrested for the building society robbery ) " Peter Barlow . . . Welcome to the big house ! " You must be the lowest form of pond life to betray your father . I ' ll have you ! I ' ll have you ! I swear to god I ' ll have you ! " ( Final line , to son Steve . )