Suspended police chief's war medal '110 per cent' a copy, misconduct panel told

A Ministry of Defence medal expert has told a misconduct panel he is '110 per cent sure' a Falklands War medal alleged to have been worn by a suspended police chief constable was a copy.

Chris Hayward, who has worked at the MoD for nearly 30 years and in its medal office for 15 years, told the hearing that during his career, he has inspected 'hundreds, if not thousands' of South Atlantic Medals (SAMs), which were awarded to British military personnel and civilians for service in the Falklands conflict.

He said that, in his view, a SAM sent to him by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which was allegedly voluntarily handed over by Nick Adderley, of Northamptonshire Police, at the end of his IOPC interview in October 2023, was not genuine.

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Mr Adderley, a former Greater Manchester Police chief officer, has claimed the medal he had been pictured wearing several times since at least 2010 was given to him by his brother when he emigrated.

Mr Adderley is part-way through a three-day misconduct hearing, where he is accused of exaggerating his rank and length of service and telling “bare-faced lies” about his naval achievements, including implying that he served in the Falklands War, despite being just 15 when the conflict broke out in 1982.

He was the head of GMP's Tameside division - a chief superintendent - when Dale Cregan murdered PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes while on the run after killing a father and son.

Mr Adderley took over as head of the Northamptonshire force in 2018 after joining the police service in 1992 and serving in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Staffordshire.

The first day of the hearing was told that he had claimed he served in the Royal Navy for 10 years when he had served for only two, had attended the prestigious Britannia Royal Naval College, despite his application being rejected, and that he had been a military negotiator in Haiti, when he had never been to the country.

Giving evidence on the second day of the hearing, at Northampton Saints Stadium, Mr Hayward said the medal he was asked to examine was of “poorer quality” compared with official SAMs.

“As soon as I picked it up, I could tell. It was lighter and not made of the same material,” he said. “You could tell it was not cupronickel and the mount didn’t swivel – a real one can swivel around. Copy medals look more blingy, more shiny – you can tell straight away. We are handling official medals all the time.

“An inability to swivel is something I have seen before on copies. They don’t swivel, I think because of intellectual property rights – MoD medals are made by our contractor so they have to be made in a specific way.”

The expert also said he did not believe the inscription on the medal was engraved in the same way as the MoD’s medals, saying: “It was totally different, a completely different look and font.”

Asked by John Beggs KC, representing the Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, whether he thought the medal was genuine or a copy, Mr Hayward said: “It was a copy medal, I’m 110% sure.”

Mr Hayward added that the medal he was sent, which did not have a covering note with it, was thrown away after it was examined “because they are not worth any money”. Asked where someone might acquire a copy medal, Mr Hayward said: “People can buy them off reputable medal dealers, but they are not made to the same spec as the MoD’s medals.”

Neil Collins, lead investigator in the case at the IOPC, said in his evidence that the medal was handed over by Mr Adderley at the end of his interview with him and was sent to the MoD in a police evidence bag, which may have led the medal office to assume it had come from Wakefield Police.

Asked why this might be, he said: “It was sent directly from our Wakefield office and was stowed in what would appear to be an evidence bag. I can surmise it is because it had ‘Wakefield’ on the bag and it was a police evidence bag.”

Matthew Holdcroft, defending Mr Adderley, raised doubts that the medal received by the MoD was the same one that was sent by the IOPC due to the lack of a covering note and Mr Collins saying there was a service number on the medal, while Mr Hayward said there was not.

The hearing continues.