Police chief wore '110% fake' medal and lied for years

A top police officer who lied and exaggerated his naval rank, length of service and achievements when applying to become chief constable has been found to have committed gross misconduct.

Nick Adderley, suspended chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, "built military naval legend that wasn't true", a misconduct hearing was told including implying that he had served in the Falklands War, despite being 15 when the conflict broke out in 1982.

He had previously served with police forces including Cheshire, Staffordshire and Greater Manchester.

The panel, chaired by Callum Cowx, who served in the Royal Navy, the Army and the police, found all allegations against Mr Adderley proven, saying they found "his audacity to be quite staggering", adding that he had lied over many years with "arrogant temerity".

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The misconduct hearing in Northampton heard Mr Adderley wore a South Atlantic Medal, awarded to British military personnel and civilians for service in the Falklands conflict, that was deemed "110%" fake by a Ministry of Defence medal expert.

Mr Adderley claimed he had served in the Royal Navy for 10 years when he had served for only two, and had apparently included his service with the Sea Cadets from the age of 10 in that calculation.

He also claimed on his CV that he had attended the prestigious Britannia Royal Naval College for four years, despite his application being rejected.

He had also claimed to have seen active service during his naval career, had been a military negotiator in Haiti despite never visiting the country, and that he had been a "commander or a lieutenant", even though he only achieved the rank of able seaman.

Mr Cowx said the panel would not give fully formed reasons for their decisions on Friday, and they would follow in a written report within five days, but agreed the allegations against Mr Adderley amounted to breaches of honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct.