DS Justin Ripley is the deuteragonist of the crime-thriller television series Luther.
He is portrayed by Warren Brown
Biography
DS Ripley arrived as a young police officer teamed up with John Luther. They were assigned on their first case to an apparent home invasion where an old couple, the Morgans, were found brutally slayed. Although their daughter Alice Morgan is the (correct) suspect, she isn't charged due to lack of evidence. Luther later develops a close friendship with Alice, who advices him on his cases and giving him insight into the minds of criminals. Ripley becomes concerned about Luther's dodgy tactics in order to solve cases.
In the two-part finale of series 1, Luther is accused of murdering his ex-wife Zoe, when in fact the responsible person is corrupt officer Ian Reed. The police attempt to have Luther shot dead during a meet up with Reed, but Luther alerts Luther to their presence and shouts for him to run. Ripley is penalised for his loyalty and faces suspension from the police force. Reed is later exposed as Zoe's true killer and is killed by Alice, although Justin is still punished by higher ups with a desk job at the police.
In the second series Luther has Reed reinstated as a detective. Ripley is kidnapped by a deranged killer Cameron Pell/Mr Punch, who has Ripley imprisoned at his hideout and tortured. Ripley survives the encounter due to Luther correctly deducing not to give Pell the much needed attention that he craves. Ripley escapes and manages to warn Luther about Pell's plans to commit a massacre of a group of school children. They stop Pell carrying out his crimes, and Ripley knocks Pell to the ground with a punch and brings him into custody.
In the third series Ripley's loyalty appears to wain as he seemingly teams up with George Stark and Erin Gray in order to build a case against Luther's corruption. Reed doesn't proceed with their investigation, and instead describes Luther as a good police officer. In the penultimate episode of series 3, Reed is shot dead by vigilante Tom Marwood when attempting to prevent him from escaping. Luther is arrested by Stark and Gray under the accusation of having Ripley killed. Luther escapes with the help of Alice, and they both help bring Harwood into custody and avenge Ripley's murder.
Years later, Luther has a vision of Ripley.
Trivia
- Ripley appeared in 15 episodes of the series.