Why is a police chief facing a disciplinary hearing?

Mr Adderley is alleged to have worn medals he was not entitled to display

Nick Adderley was widely seen as a popular chief constable amongst his officers and a boss who was always willing to defend his team on social media.

He had a high public profile and was not afraid to speak out publicly on issues that affected the force.

So why is Mr Adderley suspended and now facing a disciplinary hearing?

Mr Adderley was photographed (bottom right) whilst training with the Royal Navy in 1984

Who is Nick Adderley?

Nick Adderley was born in 1966 and grew up in Manchester.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1984 but the BBC has been told he served for less than two years.

He joined Cheshire Constabulary as a police constable in 1992.

He took a break from policing to work for the Home Office but then returned to the police service in Greater Manchester.

He rose to the rank of chief superintendent for the Tameside division in 2011, leading a team which included PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, who were murdered while on duty in 2012.

Nick Adderley moved to Staffordshire Police to become an assistant chief constable in 2015.

He was appointed to the top role with Northamptonshire Police in August 2018.

Mr Adderley gave many interviews and was very active on social media

Why did Mr Adderley have a high profile?

Nick Adderley was involved in some significant decisions which attracted national attention.

Three months after his arrival in Northamptonshire, he overturned the decision to make officers wear baseball caps.

A year later, he issued every frontline officer with Taser stun weapons, saying that officers were being injured and "it's time now to act".

He also made headlines by arresting a woman who passed his unmarked car at 95mph, with a young child in her vehicle, and pulled over a man whose driving was "rather excitable".

The man, who accepted a caution, told him that "I thought you wanted a race".

These incidents, and many others, were posted on social media by Mr Adderley, who often responded to posts that were critical of Northamptonshire Police.

Last year, Mr Adderley offered to pay for thin blue line badges for his officers.

The move came after the Metropolitan Police banned its own officers from wearing the badges, which paid tribute to officers who had died while on duty.

He took a short "retirement" of 33 days between January and March 2023 to comply with pension rules for officers, before returning on 1 April.

Mr Adderley was suspended by Northamptonshire Police in October 2023

What is he accused of?

In September 2023, it came to light that a member of the public had contacted the then Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Stephen Mold, to complain about Mr Adderley's wearing of medals and military service record.

The complaint was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which began an investigation.

The Sun newspaper reported that the complaint allegedly related to a South Atlantic medal awarded to those who served in the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina in 1982, which began when Mr Adderley was aged 15.

Mr Adderley issued a statement saying that the complaint had "had a private family impact on him personally", and he had taken advice which resulted in him changing "the side of my chest on which these medals are worn".

He added that his brothers had given him their medals to wear when one became critically ill, and the other emigrated.

In October, Mr Adderley was suspended and the IOPC warned him "in a criminal letter that we are examining possible offences of misconduct in public office and fraud by false representation".

He was also served with a gross misconduct notice.

Two months later, the BBC was told he had never been a Royal Navy officer and, although a panel for his police job was told he served for 10 years, he had enlisted for less than two.

For some of the time when he had claimed to be serving in the Navy, he was registered as the licensee of a pub in Eastham.

It also emerged he was facing a second inquiry into allegations of fraud relating to the maintenance of police vehicles during his time with Staffordshire Police.

He was approached by the BBC for comment on all the allegations but did not respond.

The misconduct hearing will chaired by a lawyer and overseen by the current police commissioner, Danielle Stone

What is happening now?

The IOPC recommended in January that the police, fire and crime commissioner should hold a misconduct hearing.

Northamptonshire Police announced in February that an accelerated misconduct hearing to consider allegations that Mr Adderley had misrepresented his military service would take place in private on 28 February.

At the eleventh hour, the hearing was postponed until 28 May.

The chairman of the panel, Callum Cowx, said the issue could not be dealt with in one day and a three-day hearing was needed.

Meanwhile, the IOPC sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, saying: "A referral to the CPS is made when the IOPC investigation indicates that a criminal offence may have been committed.

"It does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow."