Karl Maguire

**Karl Maguire** was a former soldier and friend of Joel Nutkins. He was later revealed to have been the mastermind behind the London Bombing Campaign, having formed and utilised The Crusaders to carry out his work to expose a government coverup from his time in the military.

## Background

### Professional

Maguire was in British Army with Joel Nutkins and Lana Washington, and was stationed with them at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. However he was unable to make the cut for explosives ordinance training, and later left the military. He currently works as an auto mechanic.

## Series 1

### Episode 6

Whilst holding Campbell-Khan and the rest of the occupants of the Deptford Assembly Halls hostage, he reveals that was one of the soldiers who was involved in Operation Dynamo, an incident that occurred in Kandahar in July 2009. He was referred to only as "Soldier VN39" in the official report that stated the incident was a "road traffic accident" and the soldiers deaths were "non combat related".

He was part of a military convoy sent to supply a special forces forward operating base with chemical explosives. Despite the dangerous and sensitive cargo being transported, the convoy was lightly defended and under-equipped. The convoy hit a roadside IED outside the village of Khakjab in an ambush by the Taliban. Immediately after, the truck containing the HMX-19 was hit by an RPG and exploded, with the devastation so severe it took out a school that the convoy was passing at the time. This resulted in the soldiers being attacked by the villagers as well as the Taliban, and due to being outnumbered they were unable to defend themselves. Maguire escaped and left his colleagues behind, later making it to the FOB severely injured. After being in a military hospital for three months he was court martialled for desertion as part of the cover up, and dishonourably discharged from the British Army with no pension. He was threatened with arrest and life imprisonment under the Official Secrets Act should he reveal the truth of what happened to anybody.

Karl reveals he was the one who was running the rehabilitation group in South London that was attended by Nicholas Roberts and Frank Welsh, and admits to tapping into their anger in order to lead them and get them to help him assist him in his revenge. He claims he didn't agree with their views and they were not friends, dismissing them and The Crusaders as "racist fucking idiots who deserved to die", but argues he did give them purpose and he provided them with the culture war they so dearly wanted, and their actions finally brought attention to his cause through violence and destruction. He confesses to Lana Washington that he did not use her, and genuinely meant every word he said to her when they were together and his expressing of a desire to be together. However, he refers to her brother Billy Washington as a "liability", and claims that he facilitated his death to stop him causing Lana more grief.

As Karl becomes increasingly agitated when speaking with Lana Washington, he tells her that he no longer has hope and therefore there is nothing left. As he prepares to lift his finger off the dead mans switch, Washington grabs his hand and keeps it down, and at the same time CTSFO PC Costa fires a single shot into Karls head, killing him instantly. A CTSFO team led by Insp. Lee Robins then enters the assembly hall, and Explosives Officer Hassan Rahim is able to disarm the device, although Washington struggles to let go of Maguires hand.