Retired West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford referred to watchdog | Police
The disgraced former head of West Midlands police has been referred to the police watchdog after an official investigation found “highly exaggerated” intelligence was used to justify banning supporters of the Israeli football team from attending a match.
Craig Guildford retired as chief constable of Britain’s second-largest police force on Friday, two days after a damning report led home secretary Shabana Mahmood to declare she had lost confidence in him.
The force advised Birmingham’s security advisory group in October that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were too dangerous to be allowed to attend the Europa League match against Aston Villa on November 6.
A report by chief constable Andy Cooke attacked the credibility of the force as it tried to justify the ban. The report said the threat was “highly exaggerated” and left a security committee, which relied on police intelligence, “with little or no option” other than banning fans.
West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster asked the Independent Police Conduct Office to investigate Guildford for possible abuse.
Foster said: “These matters have had a significant impact on public trust and the trust of certain communities in the West Midlands. This is unacceptable. “The force knows that I expect them to comply with the highest standards of conduct at all times.
“I will therefore be making a voluntary referral today to the Independent Office for Police Conduct regarding any matters of conduct by the former chief constable in relation to these incidents.”
A source said the reason for asking the IOPC to investigate was the potentially misleading nature of the intelligence given to Birmingham’s security advisory group. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from attending a Europa League match due to police intelligence.
The IOPC has also been asked to examine Guildford’s evidence to MPs on the home affairs select committee in December and January and whether his answers were misleading. At the first hearing, Guildford admitted that part of the forces dossier contained a reference to Maccabi’s match against West Ham which never took place, and that the dossier was inadvertently collected using artificial intelligence.
The commissioner’s guidance relates only to the former police chief. The Watchdog examines the official report condemning the actions of West Midlands police.
The IOPC later confirmed it was looking into the matter and would investigate whether any officers had a case to answer for misconduct. Rachel Watson, chief executive of the watchdog, said: “There are many unanswered questions and it is right for us to investigate independently, in the interests of accountability and public trust.
“We will now conduct a full assessment of the evidence and collect further as necessary to establish whether any of the officers breached police professional standards in relation to their duties and responsibilities.”
Information from Dutch police was at the heart of the defense planned by West Midlands police for the match in Birmingham. This intelligence led to the belief that Maccabi fans were the ones committing violence during a match against Ajax in Amsterdam in November 2024, officials said.
However, the Dutch police rejected this claim, saying that the problems before the Amsterdam match were much more complicated because Israeli fans and pro-Palestinian fans provoked each other.
Police intelligence revealed Guildford forces were told some locals might be armed if Israeli supporters arrived; This led to claims that the ban amounted to giving in to antisemitism. It comes two weeks after a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester left two people dead.
Scott Green, assistant chief constable of West Midlands Police, has been appointed interim chief constable.
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 reviewed a wealth of evidence regarding the force’s 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.”
