Friday brief: Dark day for Northants Police as dishonest Chief Constable sacked
Plus election news and lots of events happening this weekend
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Northamptonshire’s chief constable’s career has ended in public disgrace after he has been found guilty of lying and exaggerating his military service.
After hearing four days of evidence, the disciplinary hearing panel led by Callum Cowx, announced this morning that Adderley is guilty of the charges against him and will be dismissed and placed on the policing barred list.
He was found to have breached the professional standards of honesty and integrity.
It is a dark day for him and Northants Police, as no other senior officer in recent times has faced such a dramatic fall from grace.
It has been found that his naval claims to greatness listed on his CV were a sham and instead of serving a decade and rising through the ranks to Commander level, he instead served two years and did not progress above able seaman. He also did not attend the famous Britannia Royal Naval College as he had claimed, in his mitigation he said this had been ‘an ambition’ rather than a reality.
The South Atlantic medal he had been wearing at official ceremonies since 2009 was also a fake and his excuse when questioned by the Sun newspaper, that it belonged to his older brother Rick, was also untrue. Rick Adderley did not serve in the conflict either and would only have been able to receive the medal in 2015 when the guidelines were changed. In the event he applied for the medal in October last year, after it became clear his brother was in hot water.
The case against Adderely on behalf of the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner was led by high profile KC John Beggs, who gave a withering summing up yesterday accusing Adderley of having a ‘flawed personality’ and telling too many lies. He said his attempts to get out of his lies ‘bordered on satire’ and said it was ‘unedifying’ for a chief constable to blame the ‘false legend’ he himself created about his naval career on misreporting by journalists.
Adderley’s troubles first came to light in July last year, with a phone call from an ex wife to Paul Fell, a director of Northants Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. She said she had seen media reports of his naval career and that it was not true. Mr Fell called Nick Adderely to check out the claims and Adderley insisted he had been in the 1982 Falklands conflict and had been sent there after basic training. However in an email days later he said the medal was his brother’s. At the hearing Mr Fell stood by his evidence.
Born in 1966, it became clear in the hearing that Adderley had not been in the conflict and had only been 15 at the time.
In a statement after his sanctions were announced, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone said:
“I respect the Panel’s decision and am grateful for their work on this challenging case, I wish it could have been dealt with more quickly for the sake of everyone involved, but the proper process had to be allowed to take its course. I accept the Panel’s decision that dismissal is the right sanction in this case.
“This case has put Northamptonshire Police in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. We now need to set out to restore a reputation for honesty and integrity, which are fundamental values.
“Police officers are held to very high standards and the expectation of police leaders is even higher - it is their duty to set the tone for the rest of the organisation.
“Failing to uphold these standards is incredibly serious and damaging to public confidence in our police officers who do excellent work, day after day, to keep the public safe.
“We will now work hard to rebuild that reputation for honesty and integrity and earn the confidence of the public.
“Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet and his team have done a fantastic job in leading the Force through a period of uncertainty and I will work with them to engage with communities and build public confidence and trust in their police.”
Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet said:
“My focus is squarely on leading a Force that earns the trust of the people it serves.
“I am absolutely determined to make sure our officers and staff live up to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. There is no place in policing for anything less. The unprecedented nature of what has happened today should not reflect on the dedication and commitment shown by Northamptonshire Police officers and staff.
“No police officer is above independent scrutiny of their actions and when someone falls short of the standards expected of them, they will be accountable.
“Policing is a challenging role and Northamptonshire Police is full of people who have dedicated themselves to keeping the public safe. I am determined to lead a Force that meets those challenges properly and fairly.”
Adderley started off his policing career in his mid 20s at Cheshire Police and rose through the ranks before joining Greater Manchester Police in the late 2000s. He then joined Staffordshire Police as an Assistant Chief Constable, before applying for the most senior job in Northants Police.
Adderley was appointed in October 2018 and quickly went on to build a reputation for a straight talking police officer who gained the respect of his officers. He introduced tasers for every officer and at one point was mooted as a possible replacement for Cressida Dick at the Metropolitan Police. But he was involved in controversy, getting into some tense discussions on social media, upsetting the family of teenager Harry Dunn and also coming under fire when he claimed he would stop and search police trollies.
The force also did not improve its ratings under his leadership and remains a force that requires improvement.
Adderley now has 10 days to appeal if he chooses.
But today’s decision is not the end of Nick Adderley’s problems. The CPS could choose to criminally charge him and he has been under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct and Staffordshire Police concerning possible fraud relating to maintenance of police vehicles. We have contacted the IOPC this morning to find out the latest on those investigations.
Election news in brief:
A few big politcal names have been to the county over the past week hoping to give their local candidate a boost.
Home Secretary James Cleverly headed to Corby and did a tour of the town with the Conservative Tom Pursglove (read the Northants telegraph report here) and Angela Raynor was in Kettering with Labour’s candidate Rosie Wrighting. Labour’s deputy leader will be in the county again today - her third appearance since the election has been called, indicating how much of a target Northamptonshire is for Labour.
River’s campaigner Feargal Sharkey also made an appearance on his own tour of the county, meeting with local Labour candidates - he’s pictured here with Wellingborough and Rushden candidate Gen Kitchen.
No sign of any Liberal Democrat big names yet and Reform’s Nigel Farage has not made an appearance, but with still twelve days to go before voting day, there is still time for a lot to happen in this election.
Labour’s Victor James has won the Wellingborough Town Council byelection today. James won 48 per cent of the vote (240 votes), with Tory Raz Koriya second with 176 votes and the Green Party third with 31 votes cast. He is the first Labour councillor to represent the Croyland ward since the late 1990s.
Newly elected Cllr James said:
“I am thrilled to be the new Labour councillor for Croyland and would like to thank voters for their support. I have spoken to many people here recently and it is clear they feel let down by the Conservatives.”
Read our stories from earlier this week in our archive. (All 800 articles we have published since 2021 are there and our subscribers can access every story.)
News in brief
The margin for error in the battle between the two unitary councils is so thin, that a wrong decision could put either authority in ‘financial jeopardy’.
A meeting of North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) heard on Monday that there is a “fine line” in splitting up the £945m of debt with the West (WNC). Both councils were set up in 2021 and since then have not been able to have a full set of accounts as they are still in dispute about where the debts should go.
Claire Edwards, the interim finance director for NNC, told the room that the position on disaggregation is “not good for either party” and could fundamentally put council finances at significant risk if the agreed split is “wrong”.
Though a significant part of the disaggregation has been agreed on, there are still balances adding up to around £40m where the split hasn’t been decided.
A decision on the inheritance of these debts is needed to complete and sign off yearly audits for the unitary councils and to properly understand their underlying financial situations.
Ms Edwards said:
“There’s a very fine line in navigating that so we don’t actually put either council in any financial jeopardy.
“It’s not a nice balance sheet to actually carve up so whatever we come out as a result will not necessarily be in a good place, just because of the balance sheet we’ve inherited because it’s very highly geared.
“It’s making sure from the future financial landscape that neither of the authorities are disadvantaged by the disaggregation of that balance sheet, which is really tricky, to try and make sure that we get both authorities in the same place and are both agreeing that that outcome, although a negative one, is palatable.
“Once we agree this, this is it then forever and if we get this wrong fundamentally the financial risk to each party could be quite significant. We have to ensure that what comes out of this is an outcome that we can manage, and that’s as good as it’s going to get.”
Both WNC and NNC have said that they are committed to resolving the balances between themselves, but talks have been called “too slow” by external auditors. The councils approached the government to help them arbitrate the dispute but the government said they would have to pay for external arbitrators, which both have decided against due to the cost implications.
Mark Stocks, the authority’s external auditor from Grant Thornton, recognised that NNC is in a ‘reasonable’ position in terms of its finances, but that it is facing challenges in particular from the Children’s Trust. It advised the authority to continue making additional savings to avoid using reserves to cover revenue spending.
A series of recommendations were made to the council concerning their internal audit including agreeing on disaggregation fully, monitoring the Children’s Trust and completing the last two years of financial statements that are still outstanding.
Concerns were also raised regarding the council’s progress on housing, with Mr Stocks saying that more needs to be done to bring the inherited housing stock together, undertake condition surveys and resolve issues around homes that are classed as ‘non-decent’.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Plans have been lodged to convert a bed & breakfast hotel just outside Wellingborough town centre into several new flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
The Oak House Hotel, on Broad Green, Wellingborough, is a family-run B&B stretching across three adjoining buildings. If North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) approves their application, the 14-bed hotel could swap its short-stay guests for more permanent residents.
The applicant, Mr Mayur Rajani, has submitted three separate planning applications, detailing plans to section off different areas of the hotel and bring them into residential use.
In total, the number of rooms across the properties will rise to 16, along with associated kitchen and communal/living space. Limited changes will be made to the exterior of the building and the street frontage will stay the same according to plans.
Plans were first submitted to NNC in February this year and have a decision deadline of August 8.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
NN Events
🏛A two-day Roman Festival, at Chester Farm in Irchester in partnership with the University of Leicester’s Heritage Hub, is taking place tomorrow and Sunday. The event is on from 10am to 4pm and is free although entry must be booked
🎶 Arts festival Kettfest is happening in Kettering town centre tomorrow from 10am to 10pm. More information is here.
🌟There will be a ceremony to mark Windrush day tomorrow at Northampton Guildhall from 11.45am. It is 76 years since the ship docked at Tilbury, bringing people from the Caribbean who had been asked to come to help with the post war rebuild of services.
🌈 Corby Pride is happening tomorrow from 12pm to 6pm. It starts with a parade from the Corby Cube in George Street, before heading to Coronation Park.
Well done Sarah, you were there from start to finish. Superb journalism in depth, which is now very rare indeed. You should feel proud, I’m sure all of us on here are extremely proud of you.👏 I
The former Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner should be held to account for the recruitment process of Adderley. When you review other senior appointments his judgment appears to be very poor.