{"id":373961,"date":"2026-01-16T20:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/373961\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T20:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:56:14","slug":"west-midlands-police-chief-retires-over-israeli-fans-ban-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/373961\/","title":{"rendered":"West Midlands Police chief retires over Israeli fans ban row"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex McIntyreWest Midlands<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Midlands Police<\/p>\n

Craig Guildford blamed the “political and media frenzy” for his decision to resign<\/p>\n

The chief constable of West Midlands Police has retired after damning criticism of a decision to ban Israeli fans from a match against Aston Villa.<\/p>\n

Craig Guildford’s retirement was confirmed on Friday after both Downing Street and the home secretary said this week they had lost confidence in his leadership.<\/p>\n

He faced numerous calls to resign after apologising for providing incorrect evidence to MPs, which included the denial that AI was used in a report which led to the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the game on 6 November.<\/p>\n

Announcing his retirement, Guildford, 52, did not offer an apology and blamed what he described as the “political and media frenzy” for his decision to step down.<\/p>\n

“I have carefully considered my position and concluded that retirement is in the best interests of the organisation, myself and my family,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It has been the honour of my career serving as the chief constable of West Midlands Police.”<\/p>\n

In a statement to reporters, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster said he welcomed the decision and was “pleased this outcome had been reached”.<\/p>\n

“That has prevented what might otherwise have been a complex procedure that would have caused significant distraction, impact and cost to West Midlands Police and the wider West Midlands,” he added.<\/p>\n

Foster said he was pleased the outcome was reached “having regard to due process and the law”.<\/p>\n

“It was important this matter was resolved in a balanced, calm, fair, measured and respectful manner.”<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

West Midlands PCC Simon Foster said he welcomed Guildford’s decision<\/p>\n

The backlash came after a preliminary review by the policing watchdog found “confirmation bias” influenced the decision to bar supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending Villa Park.<\/p>\n

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke said several “inaccuracies” had been included in a report given to Birmingham’s safety advisory group by West Midlands Police, including reference to a non-existent fixture between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham.<\/p>\n

In evidence to MPs, Guildford initially suggested the erroneous information had been identified in a Google search or through social media, but in a letter to the Home Affairs Committee (HAC) published on Wednesday he said it was the result of using Microsoft Copilot, an AI tool.<\/p>\n

Sir Andy said the force had also “overstated” the extent to which disorder at a previous match in Amsterdam was attributable to Maccabi fans.<\/p>\n

Other criticisms included exaggerating the number of Dutch police officers deployed during that fixture. <\/p>\n

He also found the force in its advice had overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, while understating the risks posed to the Israeli fans.<\/p>\n

In its response to the criticism, West Midlands Police said it was “extremely sorry” for the errors, adding: “None of this was done with an intent of deliberate distortion or discrimination.”<\/p>\n

\"HouseHouse of Commons<\/p>\n

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Guildford had done “the right thing”<\/p>\n

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Guildford had done “the right thing” in retiring.<\/p>\n

“The findings of the chief inspector were damning,” the Birmingham Ladywood MP said. “They set out a catalogue of failings that have harmed trust in West Midlands Police.”<\/p>\n

She thanked him for his years of service and paid tribute to the work of officers at the force who “keep their community safe every day”.<\/p>\n

“Today marks a crucial first step to rebuilding trust and confidence in the force amongst all the communities they serve,” she added.<\/p>\n

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has also called for Foster to resign.<\/p>\n

In a statement, chief executive Gideon Falter accused West Midlands Police of having “lied and obfuscated, victim-blaming Jews instead of taking on the Islamists”.<\/p>\n

“His retirement, after the pitiful failure of West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster to sack him, should result in the resignation of Mr Foster as well,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it would continue to look into the force’s actions following Guildford’s retirement. <\/p>\n

Director general Rachel Watson said it had been examining a “wealth of evidence” and would assess whether any independent conduct investigations should be carried out.<\/p>\n

“If that is the case, we’ve said we are prepared to use our powers of initiative to independently investigate in the absence of formal referrals,” she added.<\/p>\n

‘Sacrificed for doing his job’<\/p>\n

Independent MP Ayoub Khan, whose Birmingham Perry Barr constituency includes Villa Park, where the match took place, said Guildford’s retirement marked a “dark and shameful chapter”.<\/p>\n

When the decision to ban Maccabi fans was taken in November, Khan backed plans to either cancel or relocate the match.<\/p>\n

He has also repeatedly called for the chief constable to remain in post.<\/p>\n

“We’ve all just witnessed one of the biggest injustices of our time,” he added.<\/p>\n

“A chief constable has been sacrificed not for gross misconduct in public office but for doing his job.”<\/p>\n

Repeating remarks he made in the Commons on Wednesday, he said Guildford was “thrown under the bus because he didn’t conform to political pressure”.<\/p>\n

Guildford first became a police constable in 1994 and has served as the head of West Midlands Police since 2022.<\/p>\n

He had many successes in his three years heading the force, which included improving the handling of 999 calls and and recording a 6% fall in crime by October 2025.<\/p>\n

Foster said deputy chief constable Scott Green has been appointed acting chief constable as the force sought to “rebuild trust and confidence” in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n

Green has appointed Jen Mattinson as acting deputy chief constable, the force confirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex McIntyreWest Midlands West Midlands Police Craig Guildford blamed the “political and media frenzy” for his decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-373961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}