Line Of Duty: Jackie Laverty and the freezer EXPLAINED

Line Of Duty: Jackie Laverty and the freezer EXPLAINED… as fans poke fun at AC-12 for taking NINE years to join the dots on the unsolved murder

Sunday night’s Line Of Duty saw a skeleton come toppling out of the closet (or freezer) having been hiding in there for nearly a decade.

After nine years, Jackie Laverty – the murdered ‘bit on the side’ of series one’s DCI Tony Gates – finally resurfaced. 

AC-12 finally connected the dots after Jackie’s DNA was lifted from Terry Boyle’s freezer, which had been dumped at the tip.

Back from the dead: Line Of Duty’s Jackie Laverty [Gina McKee] made a comeback on Sunday’s show

Fans of the show either hailed the revelation – having waiting since 2012 for it to happen – or took to the net to work out who Jackie was, having long-forgotten the character.

Here’s a refresher for those feeling a little foggy…

What happened to Jackie Laverty?

Jackie Laverty – played by Gina McKee in season one – was a property developer having an affair with DCI Tony Gates [Lennie James], using her business to launder drug money for the OCG.

Jackie killed her accountant, Gurjit Patel, after he found out she was laundering money.

Deep freeze: AC-12 finally connected the dots after Jackie's DNA was lifted from Terry Boyle's freezer, which had been dumped at the tip

Deep freeze: AC-12 finally connected the dots after Jackie’s DNA was lifted from Terry Boyle’s freezer, which had been dumped at the tip

An affair to forget! Jackie Laverty – played by Gina McKee in season one – was a property developer having an affair with DCI Tony Gates [Lennie James], using her business to launder drug money for the OCG

An affair to forget! Jackie Laverty – played by Gina McKee in season one – was a property developer having an affair with DCI Tony Gates [Lennie James], using her business to launder drug money for the OCG

She told Gates she’d been involved in a hit-and-run involving a dog and asked him to cover it up. Unbeknownst to him, he was covering up the Patel murder.

During a night with Gates at Jackie’s home, masked men from the OCG broke in and knocked Gates unconscious. Jackie had her throat slit and, while he was passed out, the killers framed Gates by putting his fingerprints on the murder weapon.

They then blackmailed him, using this as collateral.

Lies: She told Gates she'd been involved in a hit-and-run involving a dog and asked him to cover it up. Unbeknownst to him, he was covering up the Patel murder

Lies: She told Gates she’d been involved in a hit-and-run involving a dog and asked him to cover it up. Unbeknownst to him, he was covering up the Patel murder

The men took Jackie’s body with them and stored it in a chest freezer in a warehouse. She was later dismembered and stored in a kitchen freezer at Terry Boyle’s flat.

Terry tried to tell the police, but wasn’t able to articulate what had happened. The officers left his home unaware Jackie’s corpse was in the kitchen. 

It was recently revealed that some of her remains were disposed of with John Corbett’s body during the events of season five.

Where are we now?

Jackie’s remains were briefly seen in series five when the OCG visited Terry’s flat.

Ryan Pilkington – now a bent copper in series six – was seen looking in Terry’s freezer, with part of Jackie’s body still inside. Ryan is part of the OCG.

Now that Terry is implicated in the murder of journalist Gaul Vella, the police have searched his flat – with the freezer noticeably missing.

This was found in season six’s third episode, with traces of Jackie’s blood ID’d and brought to the attention of Superintendent Ted Hastings and DI Steve Arnott.

Fans took to Twitter on Sunday night to hail the discovery of the freezer and the link to Jackie, having been waiting for the open-ended plot to progress for years.

The micro-blogging site was soon awash with memes about this.

‘THEY’VE FOUND JACKIE LAVERTY’S DNA AT LAST!’ one viewer hailed.

‘Would like to file underrated icon Jackie Laverty alongside Jesus and Believe by Cher under biggest comebacks of all time!’ another penned.

A third wrote: ‘Jackie Laverty’s blood detected in Terry’s freezer – about time!’

‘Will poor Jackie Laverty finally get laid to rest?’ another asked.

A fifth joked: ‘I could have told Ted about Jackie Laverty years ago!’

‘I hope Jackie Laverty gets an annual mention on the BBC for all eternity #QUEEN’ another typed.

Line Of Duty continues on Sunday at 9PM on BBC One.