{"id":264317,"date":"2025-11-15T13:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T13:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/264317\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T13:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T13:09:13","slug":"man-charged-after-fake-rear-admiral-gatecrashes-remembrance-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/264317\/","title":{"rendered":"Man charged after \u2018fake rear admiral\u2019 gatecrashes Remembrance service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/breakingNews1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Breaking News\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/p>\n<p>For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/breakingNews1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Breaking News\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Police have charged a man after a suspected imposter took part in a Remembrance Sunday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/charles-iii-britain-london-prince-william-camilla-b2861660.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wreath-laying ceremony<\/a> and saluted a war memorial while dressed as a senior naval officer with a glittering array of medals.<\/p>\n<p>North Wales Police told The Independent a 64-year-old man, from the Harlech area of Gwynedd, was arrested on Friday on for alleged offences relating to the unlawful use of military uniforms after the incident in in Llandudno.<\/p>\n<p>Police later said that Jonathan Carley had been charged with wearing uniform\/dress bearing the mark of His Majesty\u2019s Forces without permission. He will appear at Caernarfon Magistrates\u2019 Court on December 11.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Inspector Trystan Bevan said: \u201cWe understand that this incident has caused significant public concern, particularly given its occurrence on Remembrance Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn response to the reports made to North Wales Police, officers have responded swiftly to make an arrest and proceed with charges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe urge members of the public to avoid online speculation and to refrain from sharing any content that could compromise future court proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As hundreds of people turned out to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/kate-armistice-day-remembrance-service-b2862894.html\" title=\"Princess Kate marks royal first at moving Armistice Day service\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">mark Remembrance Sunday<\/a> last week by taking part in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/charles-keir-starmer-windsor-camilla-british-army-b2863289.html\" title=\"King hugs Second World War veteran, 105, at Windsor remembrance reception\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">two-minute silence<\/a> and witnessing poppy wreaths being laid in Llandudno, members of the Welsh town&#8217;s Royal Naval Association reportedly spotted some unusual elements in a serviceman\u2019s uniform. <\/p>\n<p>Photographs taken last weekend show a man wearing a uniform including the epaulettes and sleeve lace of a rear admiral \u2013 a two-star rank and one of the most senior positions in the Royal Navy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763212153_63_2.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"The man, alleged to be a fake rear admiral, watches another serviceman lay a poppy wreath at Llandudno's war memorial\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/p>\n<p>open image in gallery<\/p>\n<p>The man, alleged to be a fake rear admiral, watches another serviceman lay a poppy wreath at Llandudno&#8217;s war memorial (The Walter Mitty Hunters\u2019 Club)<\/p>\n<p>His 12 decorations included the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), which is awarded for &#8220;highly successful command and leadership&#8221; during active operations, and the Queen\u2019s Volunteer Reserves Medal \u2013 which can only be awarded to reservists \u2013 civilians who undertake part-time roles in the military. <\/p>\n<p>The combination of these two medals raised eyebrows as no individual serviceman is known to have received both decorations. He was also wearing an MBE and a non-regulation shirt with cutaway collars not worn by naval officers. <\/p>\n<p>The alleged fakery was picked up by an online group called the Walter Mitty Hunters\u2019 Club, named after the fictional character whose tragic delusional fantasies rob him of his own dignity. The group aims to expose those \u201cwho seek to exploit the honour of our HM Forces for their personal gain or glorification\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>A Royal Navy spokesperson told The Independent: \u201cImpersonating a Naval officer is insulting to anyone connected to the service and could be considered a criminal offence. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing should detract from the poignancy of Remembrance Sunday which can be a sombre time for members of the Royal Navy family and an opportunity for people in communities across the United Kingdom to pay their respects to people who have served or are serving their country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-264317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}