List of The Bill Characters (A-D) - B - John Boulton

DS John Boulton was neither a corrupt officer nor a strictly honest one; he was not averse to cutting corners in order to get a result and arrest a criminal. He was unpopular with his colleagues due to his arrogant attitude and constant desire for promotion. He was especially disliked around the time of the Dave Quinnan stabbing as many officers held John responsible for putting Dave in that position. John was also suspected of killing a suspect while chasing him; he was cleared of this but then told one of his colleagues "there's no smoke without fire". A more sympathetic side of John was shown when he had an HIV scare after being spiked by a suspect's needle. DCI Jack Meadows supported John through this ordeal. John embarked on a relationship with DS Claire Stanton, unaware that she was an anti-corruption officer investigating the officers at Sun Hill. Her main target was John's best friend DS Don Beech. After being backed into a corner by Claire, Don decided to come clean to John after arranging to meet him one night. However John did not take the news of Don's corruption well and attacked him. Don then killed John by banging his head against the pavement. John's body was discovered by some of his colleagues, however only Claire and Don seemed upset about his death. Claire eventually managed to convict Don for John's murder and was seen sitting by John's grave in her final episode. John was known, affectionately, as "the little ginger short arse" to colleagues due to a suspect once calling him this in an interview.