Meg Coppin was born in prison during World War II. Her father was killed in the war and she was duly taken into care when she was a year old. When her mother was finally released from prison, she was branded a bad mother and so Meg was kept in care with her mother visiting her every Sunday. This came to a halt when her mother died, meg didn't ...
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Meg Coppin was born in prison during World War II. Her father was killed in the war and she was duly taken into care when she was a year old. When her mother was finally released from prison, she was branded a bad mother and so Meg was kept in care with her mother visiting her every Sunday. This came to a halt when her mother died, meg didn't find out what had happened for another ten years.When we first meet Meg she is a senior officer at Wentworth Detention Centre, she is married to prison psychologist Bill Jackson and they have a son Marty. Due to the demands of their jobs and caring natures, they both spend large amounts of their time at the prison and little time with their teenage son Marty.Bill decides that he wants Meg to give up her job at the prison to be more of a mother to 16 year old Marty, but this argument is cut short when Bill is stabbed with a pair of scissors during a prison riot. He later dies in hospital from a punctured lung.Marty leaves home soon afterwards. For a short time after Bill's death, Meg exhibits more of a harsher attitude towards the prisoners. She, however, reverts back to her normal personality after Governor Erica Davidson issues her with an ultimatum. She soon becomes romantically close to the prison doctor Greg Miller, several years her junior. Meg was disappointed, but understanding when Greg got engaged to his former fiancee Karen Travers. She then became romantically involved with Geoff Butler, an old army pal of Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher. At first, Geoff is an interesting and charming man, but he is later revealed to be a cruel and vicious homophobic racist, who, under the guise of selling insurance, is actually recruiting mercenaries. Jim realises that something is wrong and rushes round to Meg's flat where Geoff is holding her hostage. He threatens them both with a broken bottle, but Jim manages to overpower him and he is arrested.Meg moves out of her unit and gets involved with her next door neighbour, young mother Gail Summers. Meg strongly believes that Gail's husband is physically abusing the children but we later discover that it is, in fact Gail who is the abuser.Meg is shot and injured by a sniper who has been hired to kill new inmate Tracy Morris. While Meg is recovering in hospital from the attack, she becomes friendly with Tracy's father Bob Morris. They later marry.Bob talks Meg into leaving her position at Wentworth, but to his dismay she retrains as a social worker/probation officer and ends up spending as much time at Wentworth as she did when she was an officer.Meg's new career path sees her helping first Chrissie Latham. (who killed first husband Bill) She later has problems with probationer Nick Clarke. Bob offers him Employment and a home with but things go wrong when Nick develops a crush on Meg. After Megrejects Nic, he blows his parole and is returned to prison.Meg gets involved in a power struggle with Colleen Powell, first for the role of Chief Prison Officer (Colleen wins) and then Deputy Governor. Meg is initially offered this position but declines the offer, as she is trying to save her marriage. This fails when Bob leaves her without telling her.Meg visits Judy Bryant at Driscoll Halfway House, where her car is stolen by prison escapee Margo Gaffney. Meg refuses to give evidence Judy for harbouring Margo and is sentenced to 3 days in prison for contempt of court. She is bashed by Margo and returns to Wentworth as an officer after her release. After what she has seen on the 'other side' of the bars she is determined to prove that Officer Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson is a 'bent screw'.Meg fails to search ex-colleague, Barry Simmons who smuggles cigarettes into Wentworth for the women. She tenders her resignation rather than allowing department head Ted Douglas to fire her. After a strike by the women, Meg is reinstated.When Erica is sacked Meg, Colleen and Joan apply for the position of Governor. After a tense wait the new Governor is revealed as Ann Reynolds.Meg's son Marty comes home on leave from the navy. He and friend Dennis Quinn visit Meg. Dennis however develops an obsession with Meg and after terrifying her with obscene phone calls he takes her hostage in her flat. A terrified Meg is rescued by the police before Dennis can carry out his threat to kill her.Marty introduces Meg to his new girlfriend 'Jenni' who is none other than ex-prisoner Randi Goodlove. After Meg and the prison doctor, Scott Collins expose Randi as a prostitute; she tries to have Meg fired by planting a diamond necklace on her and accusing her of theft. Luckily for Meg, Pixie Mason saves the day by picking Meg's pocket and stealing the necklace before it is discovered.Meg starts suffering with memory lapses which affect her ability to carry out her normal duties safely. Her lack of concentration causes unnecessary danger and injury to the inmates. The cause is later revealed to be due to her sleeping medication.Meg becomes romantically involved with psychiatrist Jonathan Edmunds who is working at Wentworth carrying out a study on behavioural change. Unknown to Meg he is simultaneously dating Ann Reynolds. Jonathan uses hypnosis to alter Meg's personality and change her into a harsh disciplinarian. This new Meg shocks both officers and fellow inmates alike. After the extent of Jonathan's treachery is discovered by Ann Reynolds, he is forced to correct his earlier hypnosis.Meg receives a visit from her step-daughter Tracey Morris and her boyfriend Mark. They take Meg hostage and Tracey goes to the bank to empty Meg's account. Meg manages to destroy Mark's insulin and overpower him after he realises that Tracey is not going to return for him.Jealous of the attention that social worker Phil Cleary is showing to Meg, inmate Angela 'Angel' Adams blackmails friend Peter Wright into raping Meg along with another friend of his.After several threatening messages Governor Ann Reynolds and Meg are taken hostage by Brian Lowe, boyfriend of inmate Phyllis Hunt who had been left a vegtable after being bashed by Rebecca 'Reb' Keane. He keeps them both in an unsafe and abandoned warehouse, which he has booby-trapped and demands a ransom. Brian ends up killing Phil Cleary and after returning to the warehouse falls through a faulty stair and is killed. After the police arrive at the warehouse, a booby trap is set off and causes an explosion. Ann and Meg survive the explosion. In the hospital it is revealed that Meg is pregnant as a result of Peter Wright's rape. She couldn't face the thought of an abortion but she loses the baby after having a tumour removed.Meg becomes romantically involved with prison officer Dennis Cruickshank and they later become engaged.Meg and Dennis are confronted at gunpoint by escapee Frank Burke who kneecaps Dennis with a shotgun. Ann Reynolds takes a leave of absence, Meg turns down the role of Governor in order to be able to support Dennis more. Unable to work as a prison officer and fearing he is a burden to Meg, Dennis ends the relationship and moves out.Acting Governor Bob Moran is demoted to deputy after Ann Reynolds returns to Wentworth This effectively means that Meg who is Deputy Governor at the time is demoted. Joan Ferguson protests and organises a strike which results in Meg being reinstated but she is later replaced by Joan as Deputy Governor.Meg's son Marty returns from the navy and unbeknown to Meg, he retrains as a prison officer. Meg finds out after Marty is sent to work at Wentworth. Meg fears that she has lost her son after he goes missing during a bushfire, but they are soon reunited.When Joan Ferguson becomes Governor following her alliance with Ernest Craven; Meg turns down the offer to become her deputy and Joan organises to have Meg and some other officers transferred to work in other prisons. Meg is involved in helping investigative reporter Phillip Clayton to expose the now dead but previously corrupt Craven and after this is televised, she is reinstated as Deputy Governor to Ann Reynolds' Governor.
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