Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has declared she has lost confidence in West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford following a damning report that intelligence used to justify a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was 'exaggerated or simply untrue'.
The inquiry, ordered by Mahmood and carried out by the policing inspectorate, found the force made a series of errors in handling intelligence. Mahmood said the failure of leadership harmed the reputation and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police and policing more broadly.
Mahmood noted she lacked the power to dismiss a chief constable under current Conservative-era laws, with only the local police and crime commissioner able to do so. She said she would seek to restore the home secretary's power to sack chief constables in new legislation.
Sir Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, found the force failed to sufficiently engage with the Jewish community before the ban. The report did not find antisemitism but blamed confirmation bias, with the force interpreting new information to confirm existing beliefs.
Mahmood criticised misleading communications, including Guildford's claim that AI tools were not used to prepare intelligence reports – a claim later refuted by an officer who blamed an 'AI hallucination'. Contact with Dutch police was also highlighted, with claims about Maccabi fans' behaviour in Amsterdam being disputed, including a false allegation that fans threw people into a river.
