Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has declared she has lost confidence in West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford after a “damning” report found intelligence used to justify a ban on fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv was “exaggerated or simply untrue”. The inquiry, ordered by Mahmood and conducted by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, found the force made a series of errors in gathering and handling intelligence.
Mahmood said the force had suffered a “failure of leadership” that “harmed the reputation and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police and policing more broadly”. She noted that under current laws she lacks the power to dismiss a chief constable, but will seek to restore that authority in new legislation.
Sir Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, found the force failed to engage sufficiently with the Jewish community before the ban. The report did not find antisemitism but blamed confirmation bias, saying the force stopped being open-minded about the conclusion it should reach.
Mahmood criticised Guildford for claiming at a select committee hearing that AI tools were not used to prepare intelligence reports, a claim later refuted by one of his own officers, who blamed incorrect evidence on an “AI hallucination”.
West Midlands police had relied on intelligence from Dutch police about Maccabi fans’ behaviour in Amsterdam, but Dutch police strongly disputed key claims, including that fans had thrown people into a river. In fact, a Maccabi fan ended up in the water.
Mahmood said the engagement with Dutch police was “one of the most disquieting elements” of the report, with claims about police numbers, links to the Israeli Defense Forces, and attacks on taxi drivers all “either exaggerated or simply untrue”.
