Former West Midlands police chief referred to watchdog over decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans
Retired police chief Craig Guildford has been referred to police watchdog over the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attending the match against Aston Villa last November.
The 52-year-old announced his retirement from the force on Friday after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she had lost confidence in her senior police boss after a “damning” watchdog review showed “confirmation bias” and “failure of leadership” at West Midlands Police.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed in a statement that it had launched an investigation into the role of officers and staff involved in the decision.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from attending a match at Villa Park in November by the local security advisory group (SAG), which cited security concerns on the advice of the police force.
However, a review carried out by the chief inspector of police, Sir Andy Cooke, on the instructions of the home secretary, identified eight “inaccuracies” in the police force’s report to the Birmingham Sag; these include a reference to a game between Tel Aviv and West Ham that did not exist and was found to be an “AI hallucination” produced by Microsoft Copilot.
The home secretary described the report as “devastating” and said it revealed failures that had failed “our entire Jewish community”.
Following Mr Guildford’s retirement, West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster, who had the power to sack him but did not have the power, said he had acted with honour.
But in a statement on Monday after meeting West Midlands Police’s acting chief and acting chief constables, Mr Foster confirmed he had made a voluntary referral to the IOPC.
“These matters have had a significant impact on public trust and the trust of certain communities in the West Midlands. This is unacceptable,” he said.
“Therefore today I will be making a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regarding any matters of conduct by the former chief constable in relation to these incidents.
“Continuing to hold the force accountable for its actions resulting from banning away fans from attending the football match on 6 November remains a top priority.”
On Monday the IOPC said: “We have decided to use our ‘power of initiative’ to call out the matter and investigate independently to determine whether any officers or staff have a case to answer for misconduct.
“We have examined a wealth of evidence regarding the forces’ planning for the match at Aston Villa on 6 November last year.
“As questions remain about individual roles, tasks and game planning, we have determined that an independent investigation is necessary.”
Announcing his retirement, Mr Guildford said the “political and media frenzy around myself and my position has been detrimental to all the wonderful work undertaken by my officers and staff”.
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