Sergeant June Ackland   played by Trudie Goodwin

First appearance    Woodentop (16/08/83)        

The saintly June Ackland was married to Sun Hill for longer than she'd care to remember. Apart from a brief fling with DCI Wray, she was a paragon of virtue until getting together with Jim Carver in a meeting of lonely souls, a relationship that ultimately turned sour. June had great instinctive perception and sympathy. She could communicate easily with people from all walks of life, had a natural authority and was respected by her colleagues and superiors alike. She may have lost some of her early idealism, and may have been made a little cynical by the gritty realities of a policewoman's life and working in a force which is not famously unchauvinist. But she still gave 110 per cent to the Job, worrying away at details some coppers might forget, determined that if criminals got fair treatment so must the victims. 

There was a kind of sadness, a resignation about June Ackland. It came partly from the feeling that, however hard she worked, she was never going to solve the problems of mankind, or even of her tiny Sun Hill patch of it. Always very involved in her work, June took a long while to get over her father's death. He was a teacher, and they were very close. She looked after him as an invalid, and when he died in hospital there was some sense of release for her. But she rarely felt guilty about that. The real problem for June was that her standards were too high for her own good. She never really took the time to think about her own needs and abilities, and seemed to underestimate herself. June always managed to keep her cool while all around were losing theirs, however. She had a lot of charm and the relief came to rely on her good nature. And if there was an inner core of loneliness, she took care to keep it hidden.

June was a team player who believed in the solidarity of the group, a common enough attitude amongst the force, but she brought an intensity to her work that was almost unique. You had to wonder what kept her so dedicated after all these years - was it ambition, personal demons or a commitment to a job she considered honourable? More popular with her colleagues than she probably thought, June's promotion to sergeant was richly deserved. After a stint as head of Sun Hill's Community Safety Unit, she returned back to Uniform.

Since her off-on relationship with Jim came to an abrupt end, June felt increasingly vulnerable. She briefly found strength through her relationship with Gabriel Kent, but following the discovery of his true identity and the betrayal she felt, June toughened up. She was no longer soft and cuddly 'Auntie June' who took on everyone else's problems. She was less open, more cynical and defensive, particularly when she had to return to the station from retirement to pay off the debts accrued by ex-husband DC Jim Carver. This was a new tough June, ready to pack her punches. She mellowed slightly upon meeting headteacher Rod Jessop though, whom she ultimately decided to retire with after 23 years at Sun Hill.