List of Shortland Street characters introduced in 2005
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street in 2005, by order of first appearance.
Hugo Carmont
Hugo Carmont made his first appearance in February 2005 as the old friend of Mark Weston. Hugo was a lawyer and represented Eti Kawaka when he was arrested for breaking into several houses and recording the sleeping residents. He paid Li Mei Chen for sex under the guise of helping her sick partner, Norman and it was not long before it was revealed he was the home invader by masking up before jumping Yvonne Jeffries and strangling her before being stabbed with gardening sheers through the shoulder. It would also eventually be revealed Hugo was desperately after Mark's affection due to Mark defending him from bullies as children. Later, in order to get more attention from Mark, Hugo would twice allow himself to be assaulted to be put in hospital. After noticing Mark was in love with lesbian nurse Maia Jeffries, Hugo would plot to murder and disfigure her in an isolated forest but his efforts resulted in him falling to his presumed death from a cliff. However several weeks later Hugo returned and pleaded to Mark to let him free. Mark turned him in to the police and Hugo was later sentenced to jail time.Tania Jeffries
Eileen Horrocks
Eileen Horrocks was first mentioned in dialogue in 2004, before she arrived for three episodes in March 2005. Eileen visited her sister, Yvonne whilst on the way of an overseas trip. She was very fond of her niece Maia but was disgusted to learn she was a lesbian. Eileen voiced disapproval to Yvonne who informed her how proud she was of her daughter before sending her on her way.Richard Minogue
Richard Minogue made his first appearance in mid-2005 under the name: Hamish Flynn. In 2006 the character was axed as part of a soap revamp. Tania Jeffries was interested romantically in Hamish but when he got a job at the hospital, he clashed with her mother, Yvonne. Hamish soon revealed he was the son Yvonne and Ian had adopted out when they were teenagers and he was welcomed into the family. Hamish began to date Sarah Potts but his boss Huia Samuels began to suspect Hamish of fraud. Initially, Hamish would be cleared of any wrongdoing by framing the recently departed CEO Andrew Solomon of theft which was followed by the District Health Board choosing to sweep the incident under the rug to save face. Not long afterward, a woman named Josie Lorimer would come to the hospital and identify Hamish as her son Jack. While Hamish covered his tracks by inventing a fictitious friend Josie had mistaken him for, his duplicity would further be shown as upon finding Josie had died via disguising his voice in a phone call, Richard would accept inheritance Josie had left behind, revealing Jack Lorimer to be someone whose identity Richard had stolen. Being caught out by Li Mei Chen, Hamish explained the con to her while Li Mei swore to secrecy for the sum of $10,000. In 2006, after getting caught defrauding the hospital a second time, Hamish would get arrested and Yvonne would be called in for questioning. It would be revealed that "Hamish" was really Richard Minogue, a serial scammer. Yvonne would confront Richard, who admitted targeting women who adopted their kids out for their fortunes in revenge for being adopted out as a child and rejected as an adult by his birth mother, confirming he was not Yvonne's son after all. Yvonne would pay one last visit out of pity to Richard before he was arrested, with Richard admitting he had genuinely grown to love and care for Yvonne as if she were his own mother. The police showed up to arrest him, but before being carted off, Richard would give Yvonne the details of the real Hamish Flynn.Tim Coombes
Timothy "Tim" Coombes appeared in a guest role in August and was portrayed by Millen Baird. He was the ex-boyfriend of Sarah Potts and father of her illegitimate son Daniel. Tim had no knowledge of Daniel's existence and reentered Sarah's life when he landed in hospital after a school reunion. Initially Tim was angry and wanted nothing to do with his child, but upon meeting him, he embraced his son and Daniel eventually departed to live with Tim, his wife Theresa and daughter Grace in Samoa. Tim sent Daniel back to New Zealand in 2009 after he fell into a bad crowd and his business managed to survive the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami. Daniel visited Tim in 2012 to help with his business.Theresa Coombes
Theresa Coombes was portrayed by Fiona Hall and was the Samoan wife of Daniel's father Tim. Theresa had been with Tim for 10 years and proved to Sarah that Tim was willing to spend time with his only son.Grant Faalago
Grant "Grunter" Faalago appeared sporadically until 2009 and was known as the comedic paramedic who worked at the hospital. Grunter got on well with Yvonne Jeffries and the pair caused controversy when they were caught playing cards in the hospital grounds. Grunter later returned as the paramedic supervisor of Hunter McKay and Hunter was impressed as Grunter worked two jobs a day. However Grunter's tiredness caught up to him and he took a nap whilst letting Hunter take the ambulance wheel, only for the pair to crash and Grunter to lose his job for the mistake. He returned several weeks later and tried to con Maxwell Avia into not reporting his friend for not having a visa.Jemima Hampton
Jemima Hampton-Rees was portrayed by Liesha Ward-Knox and appeared from 2005 to 2006. Jemima was a tourist from the United Kingdom who worked in the hospital cafeteria. She connected with Vinnie Kruse and after all her money and traveling gear was stolen, she and Vinnie began a relationship. However the revelation that she was married put an end to the relationship and she departed. Jemima returned however and revealed she was pregnant. Vinnie wanted nothing to do with the child and Jemima returned to Britain. However several days later Vinnie decided he was prepared to be a dad and departed Ferndale to live with Jemima. In 2011 Vinnie returned and announced Jemima had left him. Having remarried and moved to South America, Jemima returned to Ferndale in May 2014 to let Vinnie see his son, Michael. She ended up leaving her husband Rolly and becoming overly dependent on Vinnie. Ultimately, Jemima moved permanently to Ferndale, sharing custody with Vinnie of their son. In October 2017 Jemima took Michael with her to Singapore following a new job. The following year she suffered a stroke, leading Vinnie to move over to care for Michael.Jemima was an unpopular character and was regarded as a 'cow' by fans.