Joseph Shortman

"Shortman was never a charming man and never had a prize winning attitude to life. He was a rough, tough and sensitive character, who had a bit of the devil in him, However, he was skilled in business management and could turn a failing company into a success."

- T.J Williams describing his character 2019 Joseph Eugene Shortman (October 16 1937 - August 23 1993) was the second husband and victim of Dora Mitchell and the adoptive father of Sean, James and Harry. He was once the manager of the Elephant café in Staffordshire and later the owner of the St. James Bistro.

Early life
Shortman was born at Leicester Road Infirmary and grew up in Stoke-on-Trent. He was the fourth child of Howard Shortman (1905-1972) and Rosina Shortman (nee Lee; 1907-1969). They already had three older children named George, Hazel and Edwin, who he was most close with. During his childhood, he attended St. Margaret's Boys School.

Marriage to Dora Mitchell
Main article: Mr & Mrs. Shortman

Joseph Shortman and Dora Mitchell married on May 18 1977, at St. Michael's Church in Stoke-on-Trent. Their marriage suffered atrocious consequences when they adopted Sean in December. Overtime their marriage became miserable and irreversible. The purpose of adopting their second child James in 1984, was to try and fix their marital difficulties, but actually it torn them further apart. Dora was never a good mother, she was either ridiculously overprotective or too abusive, she could never get it right. Shortman however made strenuous efforts to become an excellent father, but was never sanctioned to spend time with Sean on his own, as Dora consistently feared that something might happen to him and could never cope with the trauma of losing a second child. Although she would feel disgruntled when she knew Sean felt excluded, when Shortman used to spend time with James, by going to football matches or buying him gifts. Before adopting their third child, they used to compete against each other in "Who Had The Better Child", a competition they invented. Eventually they decided to try and fix the problems in their marriage, by adopting a third child named Harry in 1988. He vaguely restored the happiness of their marriage, but they still faced problems. A short while after his adoption, James ran away from home in the early hours of the morning and was not seen for several hours. Despite the fact that he was missing, Dora did not seem to be interested. However, Shortman and a search party sought the area to find him. He was eventually found in a builder's yard and brought back home by Shortman. Dora was a better mother to Harry than she was to James. However, she used to order him to steal from their neighbours and local shops. He was once caught doing so by a police officer, who brought him back home and Dora lied to the officer when she claimed she would punish him, but never did. Nearing the end of their marriage, Shortman began to fall out of love with Dora and made plans to leave her. Although he would often fight these feelings, as he never wanted to lose custody of their children. The marriage came to a savage end on August 23 1993, the day that Dora brutally murdered Shortman by attacking him with a hammer.