For former history teacher Jonathan Carley, it must have felt like the walls closed in on him in an instant when the police, looking for a bogus Royal Navy officer, came knocking on the door of his large clifftop home.
Inside, officers discovered a clean military uniform, medals and a ceremonial sword – a weapon that first raised suspicion.
Police were following up on reports that Carley, who attended a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in north Wales dressed as a rear admiral, was in fact an impostor.
On Monday he was fined £500 after admitting wearing a uniform or dress bearing the insignia of Her Majesty’s Forces without permission.
Last year’s Llandudno Remembrance Service was not the first event where Jon Carley dressed as a senior naval officer. [Tony Mottram]
The 65-year-old joined those who laid wreaths and saluted the war memorial at the ceremony in Llandudno last November.
Service and ex-service personnel had become suspicious of the supposed rear admiral – the third highest rank in the Royal Navy – when they saw his sword and rare Distinguished Service Order medal.
“It’s one short of a Victoria Cross,” Rear Admiral Dr Chris Parry told the BBC.
He said the DSO was an “easy place” because it was such an exceptional award and said only a small percentage of those who join the navy make it to rear admiral.
“You are eight ranks up and two ranks down from the chief of the navy,” said Parry, who left the Royal Navy in 2008.
Carley (left) attracted suspicion after he turned up at Llandudno’s 2024 Remembrance Service with a sword hanging from his side. [Tony Mottram]
Carley had attended events wearing a rear admiral’s epaulettes and sleeve lace for years, but some had waited to catch him.
Unknown to Carley, the former private school teacher’s dishonesty began to unravel at a rainy Llandudno Remembrance Day parade in 2024 – a year before he was thrust into the national news.
“He had a huge sword on him and that really stood out because I’d never seen it before,” explained photographer Tony Mottram, who was taking pictures at the seaside resort’s annual event in 2024 when he first spotted Carley.
He said Carley’s medals, sword and being alone made people wary.
“He kept in the background but he was suspicious because of it,” said the 63-year-old who was in the Territorial Army and worked for the Royal Air Force.
“Everyone else knows each other by name. He stayed out of the picture. He was a bit of a loner, no one would talk to him.”
Tony Mottram often takes pictures of the Remembrance Sunday parades in Llandudno [BBC]
Mottram did his best to get photographic evidence of the rear admiral’s mystery in 2024 – but before he knew it, he was gone.
There was outrage among some ex-servicemen and it was agreed that if the bogus rear admiral tried again, he would be done for.
So when Carley, from Harlech in Gwynedd, reappeared at the Remembrance Sunday service in 2025, albeit without the sword, Mr Mottram was making no mistake.
“I looked at it more this year … and noticed the collar, the cut and the length of the tunic,” he said.
“The hem wasn’t right, the length wasn’t right. You either go to the right parade or you don’t go at all.”
Carley wore a number of medals on his chest that he had bought online, including the DSO – awarded for highly successful command and leadership during active operations – an honor that very few personnel have received since 1979.
Chief Petty Officer Terry Stewart was alerted to what had happened in 2024 and, after 27 years in the Royal Navy, was suspicious of the rear admiral attending the 2025 parade alongside him.
“I asked the veterans in the neighborhood if it was the same rear admiral as last year. They said yes,” said CPO Stewart, who stepped away from the parade to follow the admiral.
“I walked up to him, said hello and introduced myself,” Stewart added.
“I informed him that the ex-Royal Navy veterans did not know him and asked for his name. He said ‘he had to go’ and that he had been invited by the Lord Lieutenant’s office.”
He said Carley returned the greeting, gave her full name and seemed confident and “not at all” worried.
Chief Petty Officer Terry Stewart left the Llandudno Remembrance Service parade to confront Carley [Terry Stewart]
Stewart was convinced he was talking to a fake.
Carley was charged by police under an 1800s law against wearing a military uniform without permission – and on Monday became the eighth person in 10 years to be charged with the offense in Britain.
There is no similar law for the medals he wore – or for those people who make up stories without dressing up.
BBC News asked Carley about his motivation – but he did not comment.
In his interview with police, he said he wanted a sense of “belonging and affirmation”.
Pictures and videos posted online show that Llandudno is not the first place Carley has dressed up as a rear admiral.
He has been pictured at other Remembrance services in North Wales since 2018, shortly after he is believed to have moved to the area.
In one video, he appears to be giving a speech to an audience in his full admiral’s uniform, complete with sword, at a Rorke’s Drift memorial event.
Ironically, he was paying homage to the military reenactors in attendance.
Andy Gittens first met Carley a few months before Rorke’s Drift speech, after he started attending rehearsals for his male voice choir.
Carley gave a speech at a Battle of Rorke’s Drift memorial event in 2019 [BBC]
“I think he said it was Navy. I don’t remember him saying a rank,” recalled Gittens, who said Carley didn’t sing much with them.
“As I recall, he was very rarely there,” said the former Gwynedd firefighter.
But when Gittens’ choir attended Harlech Castle in 2019 for a Rorke’s Drift memorial, they instantly recognized Carley.
“We gathered in the morning for rehearsal with the band and choir. He was nowhere to be seen.
“Suddenly he turns up in this uniform. Normally those events are covered by the Lord Lieutenant, but he went all out.
“He was completely believable, dressed to the nines with his sword. Then he proceeds to take charge.”
Gittens said that despite his initial surprise at seeing Carley in this new role, he had no reason to doubt him until he saw the recent news.
“He was quite kind, very nice and a believable guy,” he said.
Carley admitted dressing up as a fake Royal Navy rear admiral at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court on Monday [PA Media]
In the past, Carley has given newspaper interviews about both studying and rowing at Oxford and Harvard, as well as teaching at some of the country’s most prestigious schools, such as Eton, Cheltenham and Shiplake College.
Cheltenham College confirmed that Carley taught history and politics there between 1988 and 1992.
This period also appears to have been his only genuine brush with the military, his name appearing in the London Gazette in 1991 as part of the college’s Combined Cadet Force.
After teaching, Carley is understood to have worked at Christ Church College, University of Oxford, as a rowing coach for several years.
One former student told us he was “absolutely stunned” to see his former coach on the news, while others spoke of a respected and “warm, witty, fun” coach.
Newspaper articles show Carley (right) during his time as a private college rowing coach [Henley Standard]
“His role was head coach for at least a few of the men’s boats and he was the co-ordinator of all things Christ Church rowing,” said one former student.
“He was very good at motivating the crew. The speeches he gave were as if they had been written beforehand. I think other rowers really respected him. People worked really hard for him.”
Carley’s former student said he “never thought” he would do something like this.
Eton College and the University of Oxford did not respond to requests for comment.