“To those that have served, we say thank you. To those that steal valour, consciously knowing what they are doing, we say: you should be prosecuted and face the prospect of prison. It’s an abhorrent crime. A coward’s act.”

Mr Adderley’s false claims about his military career were exposed after complaints about him wearing a South Atlantic Medal – which was awarded to those who served in the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina – when he would have only been aged 15 when the conflict started,

It subsequently emerged that he had also falsely claimed that he had reached the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Navy and that he was a military negotiator in Haiti in the 1980s.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is currently considering a file of the evidence to decide whether Mr Adderley should be prosecuted.

Federal crime in US

In the US, the Stolen Valor Act, introduced in 2013, makes it a federal crime to fraudulently claim to be a recipient of certain military decorations or medals to obtain money, property or any other “tangible benefit”. It carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail, on top of fines.

Germany, Holland, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Greece, Romania and Russia are among other countries to have specific stolen valour legislation which carries penalties of up to five years in jail.