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Mickey Starke first appeared in Brookside as a window cleaner with the nickname Sinbad in 1984. His real name was Thomas Sweeny but he was known as Sinbad because of the way in cleaned windows, with a circular motion, just like a sailor cleaning portholes on a ship. His best mate at the time was Jimmy Corkhill and between them they got involved in many money making scams. One Christmas they “ borrowed “ a Father Christmas sleigh belonging to Max Farnham., then with Jimmy dressed up as Santa and Sinbad as one of his helpers they collected money at a local shopping centre, claiming it was for charity.
When the Choi's moved out Sinbad was left in charge of the house to show prospective buyers around. Instead Sinbad moved in himself with his mate Jimmy and set up a catalogue scam ordering mail order goods which they then sold without bothering to pay for them first. The next girl in Sinbad's life
was Marcia Barrett who he met through is mate Mick Johnson.
Marcia and Sinbad had a lot in common and were both
Sinbad thought nothing could spoil their happiness, but Marcia seemed reluctant to set a date for the wedding. Marcia later confessed that she couldn't have children due to an infection she had caught a few years earlier. Sinbad wrongly accused Mick’s brother Ellis a former boyfriend of Marcia of giving her the infection. Marcia and Sinbad argued about this and although Sinbad tried to make amends afterwards Marcia called off the engagement.
Meanwhile Sinbad’s mother Ruth had emigrated to Australia, sold her house and given the money to Sinbad. No 10 Brookside Close was owned by a charity for battered wives so when they decided to sell it Sinbad bought the house hoping to secure a future for himself, Mandy and the girls. Fate was to intervene in the form of the Water Board who arrived to dig up the patio ( where Trevor was buried ) to investigate flooding. Sinbad decided they should all flee to Ireland to avoid arrest should the body of Trevor be discovered. Despite Sinbad’s efforts it was not long before they were caught and Mandy and Beth arrested. Mandy and Beth were convicted of murder and although Mandy was released on appeal, Beth died in Prison. It was while waiting for the trial that Mandy discovered she was pregnant, so after her release from prison Sinbad planned to get married, but when Trevor’s sister Brenna arrived on their doorstep their future was put in jeopardy. Brenna convinced Mandy that she wanted to be friends and persuaded them to let her stay and help with the wedding arrangements. While Mandy prepared for the wedding Brenna was plotting to slowly kill her by poisoning the food. The day of the wedding arrived but while Sinbad waited at the Registry Office Mandy discovered what Brenna was really up to. They had a fight which ended with Mandy falling down the stairs, Brenna left the house believing that Mandy was seriously injured. Sinbad returned to the house and discovered Mandy at the foot of the stairs, luckily she wasn't badly hurt.
After the sale of No 10 Sinbad
wanted to make a new start so used the money to set himself
up in business selling second hand kitchen appliances in a
shop Sinbad often supplied friends with furniture and kitchen equipment, so one day he was quite happy to sell a gas cooker to Ron Dixon who had just moved into the flat above his shop. Ron decided to save some money by installing the cooker himself, but this caused a gas leak resulting in an explosion causing major damage to Brookside Parade. Sinbad and Carmel’s oldest son Ben were both caught in the blast, but while Sinbad just sustained injuries to his legs, Ben’s injury's were far worse and he was paralysed for life. Carmel could not forgive Sinbad for his part in causing the explosion and left him to live away from Brookside Close. Tinhead could not forgive him either and vowed to get revenge for his brother. See the Tinhead O’leary Profile for details Later though Sinbad and Tinhead’s brother Ben convinced him to forgive Sinbad for the accident so when Carmel moved away Sinbad offered to let Tinhead stay with him. Now that his business was gone Sinbad was finding it hard to manage, even though his mate Mick Johnson gave him a job at the chipshop. As his money worries increased Sinbad decided an easy way of raising cash would be to take in a lodger, so advertised in the local paper. It was not long before he had found what appeared the ideal person Mr Moore, who seemed pleasant enough. A few days after moving in Sinbad and Tinhead were alarmed by strange noises coming from Mr Moore’s room and were soon in fear of their lives as their imagination ran riot. Unable to contain their curiosity any longer they waited for Mr Moore to go out one day, and broke into his room, only to discover that Mr Moore was just a football supporter who had been busy putting up shelves for his football momentoes and listening to taped interviews with the players, which explained the strange voices they had heard. When Mr Moore returned and discovered them in his room, resenting Sinbad’s invasion of his privacy he decided to leave.
With the extra money coming in from his new tenants, Sinbad thought his troubles were over, but soon changed his mind when one of the Musgroves was accused of rape and Sinbad was put under pressure by other residents of Brookside Close to evict the Musgrove family. To Be Continued..............
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Suggestions/comments to brookside.soapbox@btinternet.com Brookside is produced by Mersey Television, and is Copyright Mersey Television 1982 -1998. Brookside Soap Box is a privately run site and has no connections to Mersey Television or Channel 4 Comments regarding the production of Brookside should be directed to: Brookside, Mersey TV, Chidwall Abbey Road, Liverpool L16 0JP. Information is sourced mainly from various TV listings magazines and no infringement of any copyright is intended.
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Sinbad always
seemed to be unlucky in love, his first love interest was
Caroline Choi who moved into No 7 Brookside Close with her
brother Michael in 1989. For Sinbad it was love at first
sight and he did all he could to impress her but Caroline
only ever saw him as a friend. Caroline did not stay on the
close long moving away in 1990 after being cheated in a
business deal by her former boyfriend. 
committed to a serious
relationship. Sinbad had never know his parents having grown
up in a children’s home. Marcia helped discover that
Sinbad’s mother was still alive and was not long before they
were re-united. Sinbad was overjoyed to discover that he not
only had a mother but also brothers and sisters.
It
was not long after this that Sinbad decided to declare his
love for Marcia, he took her to the Everton football ground
where he had arranged for a message to be displayed on the
electronic scoreboard. When they walked into the stadium a
message flashed on screen asking Marcia to marry him, and to
Sinbad’s delight she agreed. 
When
Mandy Jordache and her two daughters moved into No 10
Brookside Close in 1993 it was not long before Sinbad called
round offering to clean her windows and do other odd jobs
about the house. Sinbad and Mandy became very close over the
following months as he became involved in her attempt to
cover up the murder of her husband Trevor. 
Sinbad decided to sell the house to Jimmy
Corkhill but both he and Mandy stayed on as lodgers until
after the baby was born. A few weeks later Mandy gave birth
to daughter Ruth in the back of Ron Dixons van on the way to
hospital. Sinbad was delighted with the new arrival, but a
few months later Mandy moved away to help look after other
battered wives in a women's refuge. Sinbad was on his own
once more. 
on Brookside Parade. He was
very successful in this new venture and it was while working
in his shop that he met Carmel O’Leary who originally called
in to buy some kitchen appliances but soon became a regular
visitor. Carmel and Sinbad were soon good friends much to
the annoyance of her youngest son Timothy ( Tinhead ).
Tinhead did his best to spoil Carmel’s friendship with
Sinbad but their relationship continued to to develop.
Sinbad re-advertised the room and this time
decided to rent it to Alec O’Brien an older man who once
again seemed ideal. A few days later though the rest of his
family, the Musgroves appeared on his doorstep asking if
they could stay, as they had been flooded out of their own
house. As more of the family arrived Sinbad decided to let
them rent the whole house while he and Tinhead moved in with
Mick Johnson.