What does the headline mean, anyway? Is it some kind of Britishism?
You are correct. "He's a right charlie" = "He's a right idiot" = "He's an complete idiot" /two peoples separated by the same language :0)
It's Cockney Rhyming Slang. You replace a word with another word in a well known British phrase or name, the last word of which rhymes with the word you really mean. In this case, Charlie refers to Charlie Ronce, which rhymes with "ponce", or idiot. Although there is also Charlie Hunt, but we best not go there.