Top cop’s career hanging by a thread after excuses for wearing ‘fake Falklands War medal’ were blown out of the water
A TOP cop’s career was hanging by a thread after his excuses for wearing “fake war medals” were blown out of the water.
The Sun revealed Nick Adderley repeatedly wore a Falklands War gong despite being 15 years old at the time of the conflict.
He claimed the medal was a gift from his brother Rick who gave it to him when he emigrated.
But The Sun has unearthed pictures of Rick, 59, wearing the medal in Australia.
Rick, who served in the Royal Navy and was 18 at the time of the Falklands war, joined the Queensland Police in 2013.
He was pictured wearing the prestigious South Atlantic Medal when he was given bravery award in 2020.
A Navy source quipped the brothers must be “posting back and forth to Australia”.
The hammer blow to Nick Adderley’s claims heaps pressure on him to quit his £165,000-a-year job as the boss of Northamptonshire police.
It follows a Sun investigation that exposed his bogus war record.
Mr Adderley rose to the rank of chief Constable on claims he served 10 years in the navy and fought in the Falklands War.
But we can reveal that he joined the Navy in 1984, two years after the Falklands War ended.
He only served for less than two years and left in 1986.
He served as an enlisted sailor, not an officer as claimed.
Adderley’s official bio says he joined the police in 1992 “following a successful career in the Royal Navy”.
But sources who knew him at the time said he had spent six years as a civilian before he joined the police, including running a pub in the Wirral, driving heavy goods vehicles and selling homes for house-builder Fairclough.
The bogus claims about his military service appeared in multiple interviews with local newspapers and police websites over the course of his career.
One report in Manchester, when Adderley was Chief Superintendent, claimed: “Over 10 years the naval engineer rose up the ranks to lieutenant, serving on HMS Invincible, Hermes and Anglesey, during which he saw conflict in Haiti during the civil uprising of 1984.”
The service claims were never in direct quotes – leaving room for him to blame journalists’ mistakes.
But his own staff at Northamptonshire police put out a press release in February – which has since been deleted from their website – claiming he “served in the Royal Navy for 10 years including the Falklands War”.
Police insiders insisted he would have seen the release before it was published and widely repeated in local Northamptonshire press.
The Sun has also tracked down a former colleague at Greater Manchester Police who claimed Mr Adderley told him he fought on an aircraft carrier in the Falklands War.
Robert Gallagher MBE, a senior forensic investigator, said he saw Mr Adderley wearing the South Atlantic Medal at a ceremony in 2014 and asked him where he served.
Mr Gallagher, who served 24 years in the police, said: “I noticed he had a Falklands medal, as I have, and asked him who he served with down south.
“He said Royal Navy and he was on a carrier.
“At no time did he say it was his brother’s and I am 100 per cent certain of that, otherwise I’d have picked him up on why he was wearing it.
“I was going to carry on the conversation later when we were going for tea and biccies but he never turned up.”
Gallagher, who teaches forensics at the University of Central Lancashire, praised Mr Adderley for his leadership at Manchester Police in the wake of the horrific 2012 murders of female police officers Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone.
He added: “He showed good leadership in the aftermath of Nicola and Fiona’s murder but I’ve lost that respect for him now.”
Mr Adderley was pictured at their memorial service wearing a South Atlantic Medal and a General Service Medal with a Northern Ireland clasp, despite not serving in the troubles.
The South Atlantic Medal with rosette which was only given to people who served inside the Falklands combat zone between 2 April and 15 June, 1982.
They were engraved with the recipient’s name and service number on the side.
The South Atlantic Medal Association said there no Adderleys on their log of the 33,000 recipients – but they said the list was not exhaustive.
It is thought the Northern Ireland medal belonged to his younger brother Dave, 53, who served in the Army, in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
Falklands veteran Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who was mentioned in dispatches for sinking an enemy submarine and rescuing an SAS unit from a glacier, slammed Chief Constable Adderley as “a complete fraud”.
He said: “His whole career has been built on lies.
“It is impossible to respect someone who purports to be something he is not.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating claims Mr Adderley misrepresented his military service.
In a statement to The Sun last week, Mr Adderley said the medals were his brothers and he was unaware, until last week, that he should have worn them on a different side of the chest to his own medals.
He said: “I have been made aware of a complaint in general terms but have not had any notices served upon me by the IOPC.
‘’It is disappointing that someone has leaked such details about what I deem to be a very personal family issue, that I have yet to respond to formally.
‘’Consequently I am restricted in what I can say but I have always been keen to respond to such issues directly and openly.
‘’Hence it is important that I state for the public record that I am very proud of my Cadet, Royal Navy and Police Service.“
Coming from a military family, I wear all my medals with pride and have always worn the two medals my brothers gave me to wear when one became critically ill and one emigrated, alongside my own.
“Having been made aware of this complaint, which has a private family impact upon me personally, I immediately took advice last week regarding the protocol and have changed the side of my chest on which these medals are worn.
“I look forward to providing the IOPC with a fulsome response at the earliest opportunity and I fully appreciate that they have a job to do.”
A police spokesperson said: “Northamptonshire Police will not be commenting further on this while the IOPC investigation is ongoing.”