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Status: Offline | The Falklands faker: Police question ’bogus Royal Navy captain Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071611/Businessman-posed-Royal-Nav
Stuart Elliot cut an impressive figure in his Royal Navy captain’s uniform, complete with war service decorations.
He was said to have spoken proudly of his years at sea, recalled being an officer on HMS Coventry when she was sunk with the loss of 19 lives during the Falklands War, and regularly worn ribbons from two Gulf War campaigns.
But last night the 51-year-old company boss was at the centre of a fraud probe after claims that he had never served in the Royal Navy, let alone become a decorated captain. Detectives are also investigating whether Falklands hero Simon Weston was taken in by Mr Elliott.
As police confirmed that he had been arrested on suspicion of fraud and breaching the Uniforms Act 1894, it was claimed that his only experience of the Falklands had been working on a tug there after the war ended.
Police are looking into whether Mr Weston – the former Welsh Guardsman who was severely burned when his ship was bombed during the 1982 conflict – was duped when he agreed to formally open the premises of Mr Elliott’s gas turbine maintenance firm TC Power Ltd.
The company had moved to new headquarters, ironically on Falkland Way in Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire. The building was named Stanley House – possibly after Port Stanley, the Falklands capital – and Mr Weston allegedly believed the company boss was a fellow Falklands veteran and agreed to attend the ceremony.
It is also claimed that some customers did business with Mr Elliott because they believed he had the added credibility of a former naval officer.
The married father of three was taken to a police station in Hull for questioning and has been released on bail until next month. He was described by police as ’very co-operative’.
Detective Inspector Mike Reed said: ’Mr Elliott was arrested at his home address on suspicion of offences under the Uniforms Act and also on suspicion of fraud because some people alleged because of his status they only took up contracts with him because they believed he was a member of the Royal Navy and had this credibility behind him.
’We have interviewed Simon Weston as part of the inquiry. Simon Weston opened part of his new business premises and I think he believed the story he was told that he was a Falklands veteran.’ Mr Elliott was said to be unavailable for comment yesterday.
Suspicions were raised by the ribbons on his uniform, which were in the wrong order. One denoting service in the Iraq War was apparently upside down.
His decorations cover more than a quarter century of service, from the 1977 Silver Jubilee to the second Gulf War of 2003.
They also include a submariner’s badge. But a Royal Navy spokesman said: ’We have no record of him ever having served in the Royal Navy, or indeed in the Royal Naval Reserve.’
The Uniforms Act 1894 states: ’It shall not be lawful for any person not serving in Her Majesty’s Military Forces to wear without Her Majesty’s permission the uniform of any of those forces, or any dress having the appearance or bearing any of the regimental or other distinctive marks of any such uniform.’
As well as claiming to have been on HMS Coventry, Mr Elliott allegedly claimed to have been a Royal Navy liaison officer on board a civilian boat in the conflict.
In reality he appears to have been a young crew member on a Hull-based tug boat the Irishman, which was sent to the Falklands several weeks after the war ended.
Ray Scott, 70, who served alongside Mr Elliott on the Irishman, said: ’We had no hardship.
’The fighting had long finished by the time we got to the islands. About the most we had to put up with were a few false alarm air raid warnings.’
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