The head of West Midlands Police has firmly defended the accuracy of intelligence that led to supporters of an Israeli football club being prohibited from attending an away match in Birmingham, despite subsequent claims from Dutch authorities that the information was false.
Committee Grilling Over Intelligence Integrity
Chief Constable Craig Guildford appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee and stated he did not doubt the 'integrity' of his officers. The force had cited violent clashes and hate crime incidents during a 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv as part of its justification for the ban ahead of the Aston Villa fixture on November 6.
When questioned by MPs about whether the reported number of Dutch police officers deployed to the Amsterdam match had been fabricated, Mr Guildford responded: 'No, that's not right. That's really not fair.' He explained the figure represented a 'professional assumption of what would be required over the period of days.'
He also explicitly denied using artificial intelligence in the planning process, stating: 'We don't do that. We don't use the AI.'
Claims of 'Scraping' for Justification Rejected
The committee chair, Dame Karen Bradley, suggested it appeared the force was 'scraping' to find a reason to justify the controversial prohibition. 'It feels to us, from everything we've seen, that there was a need that you felt, that you had to justify banning these fans, and that scraping was done to find a reason,' she said.
Chief Constable Guildford expressed regret if that was the impression given but insisted it was 'absolutely not the case'. He detailed that all intelligence had been documented and shared with the police inspectorate, HMICFRS.
He acknowledged one error regarding intelligence about West Ham United, attributing it to 'one individual doing one Google search because he couldn't find the reference, because it wasn't there within the system.' Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara added that such open-source research is 'not unusual' in standard police intelligence-gathering.
Intelligence of 'Bubbling' Local Threat
The committee heard that West Midlands Police believed 'vigilante groups' from the local community posed a threat to the visiting Israeli fans. Intelligence from as early as September 5 last year indicated the visitors could be targeted with violence.
'We got a lot of information intelligence to suggest that people were going to actively seek out Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and would seek violence towards them,' ACC O'Hara stated. 'We had sort of like a bubbling position locally.'
He described online provocation, with individuals purporting to be Maccabi fans goading local community members. 'This was all forming part of the heat of the situation, so based on that, the commanders tried to make the right decision.'
Political Influence Denied and Community Engagement Pledged
Chief Constable Guildford strongly denied that political pressure influenced the decision. He was asked if information was created to support a ruling made under pressure from Birmingham citizens and a local MP. 'I do not believe that there was political influence on that decision. I don't believe that to be the case,' he asserted.
He offered to provide the committee with a sanitised summary of all intelligence gathered. 'My honest personal opinion is that the decision wasn't influenced by politics. Lots of local politicians and local members of the community I'm sure wanted to try and influence it, but I honestly don't think it was influenced.'
In the aftermath of the heavily criticised ban, which even drew criticism from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the force claims to have strengthened community ties. ACC O'Hara said a 'silver lining' was that the force is now 'working closer and more strategically with the local Jewish community in the West Midlands.' Maccabi Tel Aviv ultimately declined any ticket allocation for the match at Villa Park.
