This is the extraordinary moment a ‘fake admiral’ who spent 14 years posing as a war hero delivers a speech to mark the 140th anniversary of a British military victory – while sporting a glittering array of medals he bought online.
Former private school teacher Jonathan Carley, who on Monday was fined a ‘pitiful’ £500 after his deception was finally exposed, was filmed brazenly addressing unsuspecting crowds at an event commemorating the Battle of Rorke’s Drift.
Video footage from 2019 shows him giving a two-minute speech at Harlech Castle in North Wales.
In the clip, Carley – ‘dressed to the nines’ in full uniform and clutching a ceremonial sword – leads the audience into giving three cheers to the British Army.
Praising choirs, bands and a re-enactment group for ‘commemorating an event in history of our nations which… has become rather enshrined in history and to some extent in legend’, the conman hails the groups for marking the anniversary ‘in a very right spirit and right way’.
It was part of a 14-year fraud during which he boasted of a ‘glittering’ military career including working in naval intelligence, sources told The Times.
Carley became an annual fixture at commemorative events in Caernarfon and then Llandudno in his spotless rear admiral’s uniform and ceremonial sword.
Yet in reality, he had no military experience beyond leading cadets at one of the top private schools where he taught history.
His deceit finally came crashing down after laying a wreath at a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Llandudno last year with 12 medals pinned to his jacket.
‘Fake admiral’ Jonathan Carley addressing unsuspecting crowds at an event marking the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift at Harlech Castle in 2019
‘Fake admiral’ Jonathan Carley, 65, (centre) was exposed as a fraud after gatecrashing a Remembrance Sunday event in Llandudno in November 2025
Jonathan Carley, 65, arriving at court in Llandudno where he pleaded guilty to wearing uniform or dress bearing the mark of His Majesty’s forces without permission
Naval veterans had already spotted that his uniform seemed ill-fitting, and when photographs of the event went viral, online sleuths worked out no one alive had received the awards he was sporting.
‘Humiliated’ Carley was arrested 40 miles away at his £700,000 home in the shadow of medieval Harlech Castle, telling police: ‘I’ve been expecting you.’
It emerged that he had altered a naval uniform issued to him while leading a group of cadets, hiring a tailor to sew admiral’s rings onto the sleeves, and buying the medals online.
In reality the 65-year-old had never been in the Royal Navy or served at sea, a court heard, and had donned the fake uniform because he ‘sought a sense of belonging or affirmation’.
As Carley was accused by a judge of having shown ‘total disrespect’ to those who had fought and died for their country by gatecrashing the event, friends and neighbours in the historic town reacted with shock and fury.
Among those who witnessed his brazen hijacking of the 2019 events marking the Battle of Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War – later dramatized in the 1964 film Zulu starring Sir Michael Caine – was Andy Gittens, who was part of a male voice choir.
The former firefighter told the BBC Carley ‘came bounding out larger than life’, adding that he was ‘completely believable, dressed to the nines with his sword’.
‘He then proceeds to take over.’
Jonathan Carley (centre) at another war memorial service wearing a rear admiral outfit and carrying a ceremonial sword in 2019
Pictured left to right: A Distinguished Service Order Medal and The Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal
A keen actor at Bolton School – parts he played are understood to include a deceptive tutor in a production of Sophocles’s Electra – Carley studied at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was captain of boats.
After a ‘spell’ at Harvard he spent a year teaching at Eton where he was praised for his ‘exhaustive and encyclopaedic memory’ and ‘sardonic and self-deprecating wit’.
Before moving to Wales he also reportedly worked at Berkhamsted School and Shiplake College.
At the parade in Llandudno on November 9 last year, Carley – who on this occasion did not bring the sword – told marshals he was representing the Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd.
After laying a wreath he saluted then marched off to take his place next to real VIPs, including the Victorian resort’s mayor.
However suspicions had been aroused after his appearance at the parade in 2024, and he was confronted afterwards by Chief Petty Officer Terry Stewart.
Despite Carley giving his name and returning his salute, the experienced naval veteran was convinced he was talking to a fake, he told the BBC.
Jonathan Carley filmed brazenly addressing crowds at Harlech Castle in 2019
Pictured: Jonathan Carley (centre) at a Remembrance Sunday service in 2018
Meanwhile, online sleuths pointed out that the medals he was sporting included the prestigious Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal – no single serviceperson is believed to have been bestowed with both.
Other telling clues to sharp-eyed veterans including the non-standard cutaway collar of his white shirt, plus jacket sleeves brushing his knuckles.
Appearing in the dock at Llandudno magistrates’ court yesterday, Carley – smartly dressed but this time in civilian clothes – pleaded guilty to wearing uniform or dress bearing the mark of His Majesty’s forces without permission.
The offence – which dates back to 1894 – carries a maximum sentence of a £1,000.
Fining him £500, District Judge Gwyn Jones told Carley that it was a ‘sad reflection’ on him that he had chosen to target such a solemn day of remembrance.
Saying he had attended ‘to deceive and create a falsehood’, he added: ‘Your actions totally disrespect the memories of all those persons who have fallen and causes a great deal of pain to families.’
Earlier prosecutor James Neary said Carley – who had never previously been in court, and was said to be ‘utterly remorseful’ – had misguidedly ‘sought a sense of belonging or affirmation’.
His solicitor Mark Haslam said Carley had ‘wanted to play a part’ but now understood he had done so in a ‘totally inappropriate’ manner.
Carley ‘seriously underestimated’ the anxiety, anger and distress his actions would cause and had since been ‘publicly humiliated’, he added.
The uniform, sword and medals have been seized and destroyed.
Carley was also ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £200 surcharge.
The Walter Mitty Hunters Club, a group dedicated to unearthing cases of ‘stolen valour’, branded the fine ‘pitiful’ and said wearing unearned medals in public should be made a criminal offence.
Colonel Richard Kemp, a former British Army commander in Afghanistan, said Carley’s actions ‘undermined the solemnity’ of Remembrance Sunday and showed ‘contempt’ to relatives who had come to mourn loved ones.
‘Remembrance Sunday is such an important occasion, and this man was there, impersonating someone that he wasn’t,’ he added.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘Nothing 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.’
