Line Of Duty: A reminder of who Jimmy Lakewell actually is

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Jimmy Lakewell took centre stage in last night's Line Of Duty, and was a real throwback to earlier seasons of the show. You'd be forgiven for needing reminding what exactly those earlier moments were, though, considering how complex and full on the story line is getting.

*Spoilers*

The series six episode saw Steve Arnott meeting with Jimmy in prison, after recognising his voice from a recording on Gail Vella's work computer. During a convoy to transfer Jimmy to the police station for questioning, the van was attacked, proving there are police officers in the prison with links to an OCG. We later saw Jimmy strangled to death in his prison cell, in front of Ian Buckells.

But who is Line Of Duty's Jimmy Lakewell?

In case you need a recap of why his presence was important in last night's episode, Jimmy was sent to prison in season four after AC-12 had uncovered his role in a major cover-up, and his links to the OCG.

He acted as a lawyer for DCI Roz Huntley (Thandiwe Newton)'s husband Nick, and it later emerged that he was responsible for covering up evidence related to Operation Trapdoor. Operation Trapdoor looked into the kidnapping and murder of Baswinder Kaur, the disappearance of Leonie Collersdale and the attempted kidnapping of Hana Reznikova.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

In the season four finale, Roz confessed to her own involvement during a tense AC-12 interview, linking Jimmy to a mystery burner phone and eventually leading to his imprisonment. Jimmy refused to cooperate with police over fears of the OCG.

He was also partly responsible for Steve's back injury, having tipped off his client Nick about the police officer's location, which later led to a balaclava man pushing Steve down the stairs.

Why is Jimmy Lakewell relevant in Line Of Duty?

Lakewell revealed to Vella in the recording that there's another case of police corruption with a racist element, which is likely to inform Arnott, Hastings and Bishop's current investigation.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

Despite refusing to speak to Steve in prison, or at his subsequent interview, Jimmy was killed at the end of last night's episode by Lee Banks, in collusion with Buckells upon his return to HMP Blackthorn. Eek.

Kind of makes it clearer, kind of doesn't. Anyone else feeling as confused as ever?

Cosmopolitan UK is out now and you can SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles delivered straight to your inbox.


You Might Also Like