Gross misconduct panel hears of 'bare-faced lies' of top cop Nick Adderley Chief Constable of Northamptonshire

The three-day hearing is taking place to address allegations that he misrepresented his military service on multiple occasions and wore a South Atlantic Falklands medal to which he was not entitled.

A three-man panel chaired by Legally Qualified Chair Mr Callum Cowx heard evidence from Mr John Beggs, KC counsel for the Police, Fire Crime Commissioner (PFCC), saying Mr Adderley told an ‘egregious’ ‘false narrative’.

Mr Adderley denies breaching standards of honesty, integrity and discreditable conduct and gross misconduct but admits he was not ‘diligent’ and his conduct breached standards of duties and responsibilities.

Mr Beggs said: “He told bare-faced lies. It was completely untrue that he served in the Falklands War. He did not see active service as a commander or as a military negotiator in Haiti or on other occasions as a lieutenant. Since 2010 on public and other occasions he wore the South Atlantic medal thereby giving the impression he fought in that war.”

Mr Adderley was suspended on full pay on October 16, 2023 from his £176,550-a-year job to allow for an investigation into his conduct when he allegedly misrepresented his military service and wore a South Atlantic medal he was not entitled to.

Mr Beggs said it was ‘risible’ that Mr Adderley would have not been aware of the widely reported information that he had served in the Royal Navy for 10 years, and that he had served in the Falklands War. Information had been in the public domain including in press releases from the Northamptonshire Police communications department, the Manchester Evening News and the Northampton Chronicle & Echo.

Mr Beggs said: “Is it credible that the chief constable didn’t notice that press release? He said he never noticed the articles and wasn’t bothered about his media profile. It would be surprising that he didn’t take any notice of these articles.”

The hearing was told that Mr Adderley claimed he had attended the prestigious Brittania Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

Mr Beggs told the panel: “It gets worse. He never attended that college, let alone for four years. He was rejected by that world-famous college. It’s embarrassing.”

Paul Fell, former chief superintendent at Northants Police and now working for the office of the PFCC, was grilled by Matthew Holdcroft, counsel for Mr Adderley, about the timing of the initial complaint made about the chief constable and how the phonecall was handled.

After being given information Mr Adderley may have been lying about his military record, Mr Fell undertook an initial ‘scoping’ exercise to verify facts.

On the phonecall made by one of his ex-wives, Mr Adderley said he joined the Royal Navy in early 1982, when he was 17.

Mr Fell said: “During this conversation Mr Adderley informed me that he completed his basic training and was then deployed straight to the Falklands War serving on HMS Hermes. He stated that he served 10 years till 1992.”

But Mr Fell’s ‘scoping’, using the police Centurion data base and an internet search, found Mr Adderley’s date of birth to be September 21, 1966 meaning Mr Adderley would have been 15 at the start of the Falklands conflict and too young to serve.

Blaming a bad phone line, Mr Holdcroft suggested that Mr Fell misheard Nick Adderley saying ‘Rick’ instead of ‘Nick’ Adderley saying all the claims made of Nick Adderley were true of his older brother.

Mr Cowx said there was further doubt that the disputed medal used by Nick Adderley wasn’t ‘bona fide’ and may have been retrospectively applied for by his brother Rick, after the disciplinary process had already started.

The hearing continues tomorrow (Wednesday, May 29) at Northampton Saints.