Retired West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford referred to watchdog

The disgraced former head of West Midlands Police has been referred to the police watchdog after an official inquiry found that “greatly exaggerated” intelligence was used to justify a ban on fans of an Israeli football team attending a match.Craig Guildford retired with immediate effect as chief constable of the second largest police force in England on Friday, two days after a damning report led Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, to declare she had lost confidence in him.The force had advised Birmingham’s safety advisory group in October that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were too dangerous to be allowed to attend a 6 November Europa League game against Aston Villa.A report by Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, attacked the force’s credibility in trying to justify the ban. The threat was “greatly exaggerated”, leaving a safety committee that relied on the police intelligence “with little or no option” but to ban the fans, the report said.The West Midlands Police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster, has asked the Independent Office for Police Conduct to investigate Guildford for potential misconduct.Foster said: “These matters have had a significant impact on public confidence, and the confidence of particular communities in the West Midlands. This is unacceptable. The force know that I expect them to comply with the very highest standards of conduct at all times.“I will therefore today make a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct regarding any conduct matters by the former chief constable in relation to these events.”A source said the grounds for asking the IOPC to investigate was the potentially misleading nature of intelligence given to Birmingham’s safety advisory group. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from attending the Europa League game based on the police intelligence.The IOPC has also been asked to review Guildford’s testimony to MPs on the home affairs select committee when he appeared before them in December and January, and whether his answers were misleading. In the first hearing, Guildford admitted part of a force dossier contained a reference to a Maccabi game against West Ham that never happened, and it had been gathered erroneously using artificial intelligence.The referral from the commissioner is just about the former chief constable. The watchdog has been studying the official report that condemned West Midlands Police’s actions.The IOPC later confirmed it had called in the matter and would investigate whether any officer had a case to answer for misconduct. The watchdog’s director general, Rachel Watson, said: “There are many unanswered questions and it’s right for accountability and public confidence for us to independently investigate.“We will now undertake a full assessment of the evidence, and gather more where necessary, to establish if any of the officers may have breached police professional standards in relation to duties and responsibilities.”Central to West Midlands Police’s defence as they planned for the game in Birmingham was information from Dutch police. The force said this intelligence led it to believe Maccabi fans had been perpetrators of violence during a match against Ajax in Amsterdam in November 2024.But Dutch police disputed this claim, saying the cause of trouble before the Amsterdam game was much more mixed, with Israeli fans and pro-Palestinian supporters provoking one another.Police intelligence emerged showing Guildford’s force had been told some local people might arm themselves if Israeli fans turned up, which led to claims the ban amounted to caving in to antisemitism. This emerged a fortnight after a terrorist attack left two dead at a synagogue in Manchester.Scott Green, West Midlands Police’s deputy chief constable, has stepped up as chief constable temporarily.The IOPC said: “We have decided to use our ‘power of initiative’ to call in the matter and independently investigate to determine if any officer or staff member may have a case to answer for misconduct. We have examined a wealth of evidence relating to the force’s planning for the match at Aston Villa on November 6 last year.“As questions remain about individual roles, duties and planning for the game, we have determined an independent investigation is warranted.”