Blogger who exposed Walter Mitty chief constable found dead in hotel room while awaiting sentencing for child sex offences

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER Published: 17:34, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 17:39, 6 July 2026 A blogger who was instrumental in bringing down a Walter Mitty chief constable has been discovered dead – a month after he was convicted of child sex offences. Simon Tilley was reportedly found dead in his hotel room on Friday after failing to check out. His blogs on Northamptonshire police were instrumental in the exposure of former chief constable Nick Adderley who falsely claimed he had served in the Falklands and had made other untrue claims on his CV. Adderley, 56, was sacked from his high profile post in 2024 after a disciplinary panel ruled that he had engaged in 'sustained, brazen dishonesty.' He has since been charged with fraud and misconduct in public office following allegations that he made false claims about his military service and educational achievements when applying to work for the police. During Tilley's trial in May, a court heard he had been caught sending explicit messages and pornographic videos to an undercover Northamptonshire Police detective, who the defendant thought was a 13-year-old boy called 'Harry'. Tilley was found guilty of two child sex offences early last month. He was also found guilty of stalking the wife of the detective involved in investigating the sex case, herself also a police officer. Simon Tilley, pictured outside Stafford Crown Court earlier this year, was found dead in a hotel room Tilly helped expose former Northamptonshire chief constable Nick Adderley, pictured in 2024 Tilly is reported to have gone to the Hampton by Hilton hotel in Corby, but failed to check out He posted a picture of her wedding day and marriage certificate online along with false allegations she was corrupt. Jurors heard he also called the lead detective a sex offender, branded him 'PC Pervert' online and wrote him a letter which 'quite unnecessarily' included a reference to knowing his home address and current partner. Stafford Crown Court heard Tilley carried out the stalking campaign in a bid 'to derail the criminal proceedings' prosecutors said, and he had obtained the marriage certificates of at least ten officers. Tilley was found guilty of two child sex offences, perverting the course of justice and one count of stalking. He was found not guilty of a second stalking charge. He was bailed ahead of sentencing on September 18. Tilley, of Kingsthorpe Hollow, Northampton, is believed to have gone to the Hampton by Hilton hotel in nearby Corby last Thursday and posted about his trip to his Instagram account. But on Friday when he failed to check out, hotel staff went to his room and discovered him dead. Northamptonshire Police said: 'Police officers were called to the sudden death of a 46-year-old man in a hotel room in Corby, at about 12.35pm on Friday, July 3. 'We are not treating his death as suspicious and will be preparing a report for the coroner's office.' The Northamptonshire Telegraph reported that up until last week, Tilley had been emailing its journalists with details of perceived failures in force procedures and cases involving other police officers.