"If she's going for union rep then so am I. I'm not going to let it be handed to her on a sliver platter.."
Dennis Cruickshank is a former officer at Wentworth Detention Centre.
Dennis before being transferred to the prison worked in the British Youth Prison System working in the system to make sure that they would not reoffend.
Dennis' time at Wentworth is fraught by failed relationships with Meg Morris and Heather Rodgers which results in him breaking the picket to go into work and while suspended he leaves for England.
Dennis' return to Wentworth after returning from England he is suspected of murder of a backpacker but has his charges dropped. When the men from Woodridge are sent to Wentworth Dennis makes enemies with Frank Burke and has several run ins with him.
Dennis would ultimately leave the service after he is shot by Frank. Dennis' injuries prevent him from returning to work and his relationship with Meg falls apart.
Time At Wentworth[]
Dennis joins the guards at Wentworth when they are understaffed after Colleen resigns from the prison. He says he had been a part of the British Youth Prison System and is all about helping them, but it was a system of boys who would recommit crimes because they had nothing better to do.
Dennis is partly responsible for the death of Bobbie Mitchell's unborn baby because he threw her to the side (459). Bobbie stabs him in the shoulder.
He starts dating Heather Rodgers, another prison officer who starts not long after Dennis. He breaks the strike by going into work and gets suspended because of it. When he has to return to England due to the news of his mother's illness their relationship breaks apart.
Arriving back at Wentworth he finds out that Heather was fired because of Joan Ferguson. He catches Bobbie Mitchell being sick on dope but decides not to tell the Parole Board. He stops Frank Burke from escaping twice which makes Burke angry. After giving a young hitchhiker-girl a ride he gets suspected of her murder as she is found dead. Eventually Inspector Grace finds out who the real murderer is and Dennis cleared of the charges but Dennis tells Grace where to stick his apology as the false indictment lead to his life being ruined. Dennis also takes on the role as union rep.
Leaving the Service[]
He starts dating fellow prison officer Meg Morris and the two of them move in together and even get engaged. He gets word that Frank Burke has escaped and he has a hit list with his name on it with Dennis being high on that list after Dennis had stopped Frank's escapes multiple times. Frank finds out where Dennis and Meg live and goes there with a shotgun.
He shoots Dennis in both legs (called kneecapping) incapacitating him. Dennis ends up in a wheelchair and thinks he will never walk again after being told the injuries to his knees also involved nerve damage to the nerves in the back of the knees.
Dennis makes the harsh decision and tells Meg to leave him and go back to Wentworth rather than let her give up her career to look after him (560).
Meg mentions that Dennis is doing pretty well and is recovering (590).