DI Mark Bails was Harriet Finch's former boss who abused and raped Charity Dingle when she was a teenager which resulted in him fathering Charity's son, Ryan Stocks. He was also the husband of Chloe Bails and had two other children, Luke and Molly Bails.
Biography[]
1990-2014: Abusing Charity Dingle[]
In 1990, Bails often used to arrest homeless fourteen-year-old prostitute Charity for soliciting. She was relieved when it was him who picked her up, as he would let her away with a caution if she played her cards right. Bails ended up installing Charity in a flat. Naive Charity thought Bails was going to save her, but really, he raped and abused her for months on end. Charity eventually did a runner and reported Bails for beating her up, but not for rape. This resulted in Bails' wife leaving him, and although he managed to hold onto his job, he lost out on a big promotion so blamed Charity for ruining his life.
Despite remarrying and starting a family with his second wife, Chloe, Bails continued to hold a grudge against Charity.
2014-2018: Returning into Charity's life, his abuse secret exposed and the discovery of his biological son[]
In October 2014, Bails believed he finally had evidence to send Charity down after Charity's estranged husband, Declan Macey, implicated her in insurance fraud. Charity doubted Bails would be able to prove anything as the insurance fraud was all Declan's idea and she could lie on the stand that violent Declan made her provide him with an alibi as he was threatening her son, Noah.
Unable to make anything stick to Charity, Bails turned his attention to Charity's daughter Debbie's boyfriend, Pete Barton. Bails produced a photograph of Pete dealing ecstasy then accused Pete of supplying a student with the pills that killed her. Pete was subsequently arrested and charged with manslaughter.
On the day of Pete's plea hearing, Bails called into Mulberry Cottage and explained he pulled a few strings and arranged for the plea hearing to be postponed. Bails made it clear to Pete he had stitched him up, and in exchange for dropping the charges, he wanted evidence that would send Charity down. Pete talked things over with Debbie. They were unsure what to do, but when Debbie discovered Charity was running a chop shop, she decided to set her mother up to keep Pete out of prison.
DI Bails informed Pete he had until the next day to get Charity to go to the station and make a full confession. Debbie and Pete knew that wouldn't be an easy task so Debbie decided they should try to get a recording of Charity confessing, then use that against her. Debbie invited her mother over to Mulberry Cottage and attempted to extract a confession from her but as Debbie tried to get Charity to admit her involvement in the insurance fraud, Pete blurted out they were recording her. Pete informed Charity that unless she confessed to insurance fraud, Bails would ensure he went down for manslaughter. Pete decided to call off the deal with Bails as he didn't want to further damage Debbie and Charity's already strained relationship, even it meant he went to prison.
Charity filled Debbie and Pete in on her history with Bails and how he used to abuse her. In order to make things right with Debbie, Charity went to the police station and confessed to her involvement in the insurance fraud, much to Bails' delight. Subsequently, Charity was sentenced to two years imprisonment.
Three years later in 2018, Bails investigated when Tracy Metcalfe, a former prostitute, reported her former client, Phil Webb, had been blackmailing and harassing her. Phil was charged and in April, he was found guilty and sentenced to four years imprisonment. Phil's conviction made the news and Tracy watched the segment with Charity, the girlfriend of Tracy's sister, Vanessa Woodfield. Charity was distressed to see Bails on television talking about working with vulnerable people and later that day, Charity confided in girlfriend Vanessa about her ordeal at the hands of Bails.
In the dark about Charity's ordeal at the hands of Bails, Tracy partnered with him to launch an initiative to help sex workers which left Vanessa fearing for her sister's safety. Charity ordered Bails to stay away from Tracy, but believing he was untouchable, Bails warned Charity if she took him on he'd break her to pieces. However, when Charity threatened to reveal the truth about Bails, he offered her £20k to keep her mouth shut about the past. He reminded her that if she were to publicly accuse him, everyone would believe a high-ranking police officer over a former prostitute. Charity accepted the hush money.
After learning Bails had remarried, Charity followed him home and was crushed to see Bails with his wife Chloe and their two young children outside a large house - seemingly with the perfect life. Charity sat and watched the Bails' house over a few days but was unable to work up the courage to knock on the door and tell his wife what he was really like. Bails eventually clocked Charity was watching him and she was given a warning by PC Swirling.
On the day of the launch of The Hotten District Campaign to Support Sex Workers, Charity realised she couldn't sit back and allow Bails to continue working with vulnerable women and girls. Charity pitched up at the Bancroft Conference Centre as Bails was making a speech. Although unnerved by Charity's presence, Bails continued his speech and finished by insisting sex workers aren't worth less than anyone else and deserve respect. Despite Bails' attempts to discredit her, Charity blurted out Bails repeatedly raped her and pimped her out to his mates when she was just a child. DI Bails denied any wrongdoing but as a result of Charity's allegations he was suspended and a professional standards investigation was launched.
A few weeks later, Bails bumped into Charity at Hotten General Hospital whilst attending an antenatal appointment with wife Chloe. Charity was shocked to learn about Chloe's pregnancy so blurted out to Bails and Chloe that she was pregnant when she escaped from Bails and now she was searching for her dead little boy as his DNA was evidence to back up her allegations. It was soon discovered Charity's baby had actually survived and her now 27-year-old-son, Ryan Stocks, submitted a sample of his DNA to the police. Bails refused to provide a sample of DNA to compare to Ryan's so he was arrested and forced to do so. The subsequent DNA test proved Bails was Ryan's father.
Bails decided to meet Ryan, secretly in a bid to get his son on his side. Bails didn't manage to get Ryan immediately but Ryan was beginning to have second thoughts about siding with Charity. Ryan later met up with Bails to try to get him to plead guilty but Bails showed his true colours, and Ryan attempted to hit Bails over the head with a plank of wood in a fit of rage. Bails rang the police and Ryan was arrested the day before the trial.
On 11th September 2018, Bails' trial was held and he was very careful as to what he said. He portrayed Charity as a confused woman but was tripped by Charity's solicitor when the solicitor discovered Bails hadn't said everything in the interview that he had said in court. Chloe was called to the stand and lied for Bails, claiming that Charity began stalking the family and that they felt trapped and scared for their kids. Bails' sentencing took place the next day. He was found not guilty of selling Charity to his friends for sex, however he was found guilty of unlawfully imprisoning Charity, living on Charity's earnings which she got from prostituting herself and raping her. The judge told Bails that he thought he was a liability to vulnerable women and sentenced him to thirty years imprisonment. He also was told that he was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
2023: Death[]
In January 2023, Bails suffered a fatal heart attack in his cell.