John Carney, 42, served six years in the Yorkshire Regiment and did two tours in Northern Ireland. He was a team leader in Iraq with Aegis Defence Services, the multi-million-pound private security firm set up by Colonel Tim Spicer. He has operated a close protection service in Iraq since 2011 and currently organizes deradicalization programmes on the Syrian/Turkish border. To protect his family, the name John Carney is a pseudonym. Names of his family and colleagues have been changed.
