Jock MacDonald was an employee of NY Estates and was a shop steward. Alan Turner was his boss. Jock became good friends with fellow NY Estates employees Bill Middleton and Seth Armstrong. Originally a cheerful Scotsman, Jock's marriage dissolved, and his wife and child left him, so Jock showed his darker side in 1988 when he started getting drunk and violent. He was taken on full time by new Home Farm owners Joe and Alan but became a liability, due to his drinking and depression. Jock did mend his ways for a time. In 1990 he got involved in poaching, illegal gambling, committed arson on Home Farm property, blackmailing Frank Tate and was cruel to one of Zoe Tate's horses. His final criminal act was another arson attack on Home Farm of which he later confessed to. Jock was never seen in the village again.
In October 1983, Jock's first name initials were revealed to be J. D. followed by his surname McDonald.