'Arrogant' ex-Tameside police chief wore fake Falklands medal and lied about naval service

A former Tameside police commander who exaggerated his naval rank and achievements when applying to be a chief constable committed gross misconduct.

Nick Adderley "built military naval legend that wasn't true", a misconduct hearing heard.

He implied he had served in the Falklands War, despite being 15 in 1982 when fighting began.

Fifty-seven-year-old Mr Adderley headed the Tameside division when Dale Cregan murdered PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes while on the run after killing a father and son.

He was suspended as Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Constabulary last October.

The Northampton hearing was told Mr Adderley wore a South Atlantic Medal, awarded for service in the Falklands conflict, that was deemed '110 per cent' fake by a Ministry of Defence expert.

The panel 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". 

Mr Adderley claimed he had served in the Royal Navy for 10 years when he had served for only two, and had 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 Britannia Royal Naval College for four years even though he was turned down for a place.

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.

The panel agreed the allegations against Mr Adderley amounted to breaches of honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct.

Mr Adderley took over as head of the Northamptonshire force in 2018.