Senior officer checks after Northamptonshire chief sacking

A police force will check the qualifications of senior staff after its chief constable was sacked for lying.

Northamptonshire Police is also reviewing how Nick Adderley was vetted prior to his appointment.

Mr Adderley was dismissed by a disciplinary panel last week for exaggerating his military service.

The Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) said it would “look at information that was provided and how it was shared or checked”.

Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet said chief superintendents and above would be “subject to more stringent checks” and any declared military service and university qualifications would also be scrutinised.

The OPFCC said the process in relation to the force’s eight senior officers serving in those roles had already begun.

It added a review was under way into the checks carried out into Mr Adderley prior to his appointment in June 2018.

“This will look at the level, nature and robustness of vetting and other checks into any information that was provided in support of his appointment,” the office said.

Those findings would be made public.

Mr Adderley’s three decade career in the police service ended when the panel upheld all allegations against him following a five-day gross misconduct hearing.

It found he had stated on his CV when applying for the job in 2018 he had been a “commended officer” in the Royal Navy.

No records existed supporting any commendation and he had never achieved any rank above Able Seaman.

He also claimed to have attended officer training at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth between 1982 and 1986, but again this was untrue.

He joined the service as a naval rating, a lower rank, in 1984 and stayed for just two years.

After he left the service in 1986, he worked in a number of jobs including a spell as a pub landlord.

Mr Adderley had also worn a South Atlantic Medal, awarded to service personnel who had served in the Falklands War, during numerous public appearances.

He previously claimed the medal had been given to him by his brother, who had served in the theatre but after the conflict had ended.

A medals expert who gave evidence at his hearing stated that he believed the item was fake.

In a statement afterwards, Mr Adderley told his former colleagues: “I have failed you in that regard, something that I deeply regret, a regret that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

The BBC contacted the three forces Mr Adderley had served with previously.

Cheshire Police said: “When he joined the force, he went through the applicable vetting procedures that were in place. Thirty-two years on we have the utmost confidence in our vetting system.”

Mr Adderley was also an assistant chief constable with Staffordshire Police.

It said: “Chief officers are appointed usually following a number of years’ service, so pre-employment checks rarely focus on employment prior to joining policing.

“Nick Adderley did not provide his employment history prior to joining the police as part of his application to join Staffordshire Police.”

According to Greater Manchester Police: “We liaised with the IOPC regarding these matters that are subject to ongoing proceedings and so will not be commenting further.”

In a statement to the BBC, the Northamptonshire OPFCC said: “An internal review has already begun that will investigate force vetting processes, identify any gaps, and make sure that processes are robust.

“This will look at Mr Adderley’s appointment and will also look more broadly at how we can enhance vetting for all police officers and staff.

“In parallel, we have already raised with the Home Office our wish to ensure that all local and national Developed Vetting processes are joined up to ensure that an issue like this – where clearly something went wrong – cannot happen again.”