PC Thorne, together with his colleague PC Hatford, was called to Coronation Street in April 2003 when Kevin Webster became concerned about two men who had earlier called at his house asking Sally which their "old friends" Tommy and Angela lived in. Kevin was one of very few people who knew that the "Nelson" family in No. 6 were in fact the Harris family who had moved from Sheffield on a witness protection programme after Angela had given evidence at the trial of Tom Morgan for murder in the pub where she worked as a barmaid.