Exclusive: No case to answer for sacked Northants chief constable in Staffordshire fraud investigation

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has concluded its investigation into an alleged fraud scheme in Staffordshire

By Sarah Ward

Nick Adderley was sacked after his lies were exposed. Nadia Lincoln image.

The national police watchdog has said a criminal investigation into disgraced former Northants police chief Nick Adderley and alleged fraudulent practice at his former force in Staffs has found ‘no case to answer’.

Adderley was sacked from his chief constable role within the Northants force in June last year after a misconduct investigation found he had lied about his naval career and misrepresented his military service. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates senior police wrongdoing, had two months earlier passed an evidence file to the Crown Prosecution Service about the matters. Adderley, who was given the Northants job in 2018, had led people to believe he had served in the Falklands conflict. He had also fraudulently claimed on the CV seen by the panel involved in his appointment, that he had been educated at the country’s top naval college in Dartmouth.

At the same time as his misconduct hearing, the IOPC had been leading an investigation into whether Adderley and another serving officer at Staffordshire Police were involved in criminal activities related to the maintenance of police vehicles. Before landing the top job at Northants, Adderley had served as an assistant chief constable at Staffs.