EastEnders' Jamie Foreman: "I went on the run with my gangster dad and didn't see my dream girl for 20 years"

Julie Dennis, 17, was one of London’s top models. My jaw dropped. In that moment I knew I was looking at the woman I had to be with.

I’ll never forget our first date. Julie wore a sky-blue parachute-silk jumpsuit. It had zips everywhere, including a long one down the front. I spent the whole bloody night trying desperately not to get caught staring at her wonderful cleavage. I still tremble at the memory.

We fell in love. But after a few blissful months together I vanished from her life. And I wouldn’t meet Julie again for another 20 years.

Dad was putting something big together. I could feel it. He’d met up with old mate, Dukey, an armed robber who’d looked after the Kray’s arsenal.

But times had changed – there was big money to be had dealing marijuana. People couldn’t get enough of the stuff. Everyone I knew liked a puff and there was some amazing gear around in the 70s, the best from Afghanistan.

I was staggered to discover Dad and Dukey had arranged to smuggle in a ton and a half of Afghanistan Black – two million quid’s worth, or £20million in today’s money.

It was audacious and scary and there was a problem. A source informed Dad that Customs had been sniffing around a major drugs smuggling operation for months.

It was too late to pull out – the package was already in transit.

Dad must have been feeling the heat because, suddenly, my services were no longer required. He was protecting me.

And, on the day, everything went dreadfully, tragically wrong.

Flashback: How the Mirror reported the hunt for DukeyDaily Mirror 

Customs officers tracked the drug lorry to an East End depot and the driver Scatty Eddie tried to give them the slip, while Dad and Dukey escaped.

Dad watched the TV news later and was horrified. In a moment of total madness Eddie pulled out a pistol and shot the poor Customs guy. An innocent family man had been killed for doing his job.

Dad had insisted no guns should be involved. Now Eddie’s actions had implicated him in something very heavy.

The police were scouring London for my dad and, as I was his driver, for me too.

Dad needed to go underground but both of us going AWOL would have made me look guilty. I had to carry on as normal while Dad went into hiding. But two days later I was woken by Customs and Flying Squad officers pointing guns at my head.

They took me to search Dad’s empty office building but, of course, found nothing. When the s*** hit the fan the firm rallied round and made sure he was safe.

With a murder charge looming over Dad and Duke they had to get out of the country. But Dukey couldn’t face going on the run and he took his own life. Dad fled to Tenerife. Mum and my younger sister Danielle discreetly followed soon after.

But should I stay or should I go?

Dark past: Jamie went on the run 

I was falling deeply in love with Julie and my career was about to really take off.

Then I heard the police planned to arrest me to try to flush out Dad.

I was a wanted man. It was time to go on the run. The chaps arranged for me to join the family – but I couldn’t say goodbye to Julie.

Hiding in a foreign country is one of the most boring things in the world. Granted, lounging about on a beach is better than being banged up, but psychologically you’re still somewhere you don’t want to be. It turns into a prison sentence.

After six months Dad got word it was time to move on – the police thought they knew our location. I was to join him in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Going on my toes to America was exciting. I fantasised about acting there. It was great spending so much time alone with Dad – a wonderful chance to get to know each other.

But we needed to start over. By the time I arrived, Dad had already made allies in the Mafia family in Allentown.

We were given a licence to open a games room. It was a rough area and people thought they could take the p***. The Foreman reputation had to be established.

At first I was chinning one of them every day. But, lo and behold, we soon began to get the respect we deserved. We were making a fortune but hanging around our low-life customers my life was slowly unravelling.

Soon the cracks began to show and my frustration turned to terrible anger. I was a bomb waiting to go off – and then I exploded. I put a gun to an innocent man’s head and almost pulled the trigger. I was shaken to the core.

Dad was wonderful. “It’s time for you to go home, son,” he told me.

Getting back to London was like being shot with a wonderful, calming drug and getting back into acting was the icing on the cake.

Years later my sister’s friend mentioned she worked with a Julie Dennis – the girl who had slipped the net.

I got her number and invited her for dinner. That night I fell in love with her all over again. Julie and I have been together ever since. She’s the love of my life.