Under-fire police chief set to stop over Maccabi Tel Aviv intelligence | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Under-fire police chief Craig Guildford is ready to stop over the Maccabi Tel Aviv intelligence scandal.

Mr Guildford, who is ready to maintain his pension, confronted weeks of calls to be sacked.

But policing chiefs are set to this afternoon announce he’s retiring from his £220,000 a yr position.

It comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stated she has misplaced confidence within the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police after falsified intelligence led to Maccabi Tel Aviv followers being banned from the occasion.

Ms Mahmood stated the pressure “overstated” the menace posed by Israeli soccer followers while underplaying the chance from native Islamist mobs forward of the match.

A police watchdog probe into the scandal discovered the intelligence was “exaggerated” in some instances, while in others it was “untrue”.

Labour Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster initially refused to sack the Chief Constable, who’s clinging to energy.

And Mr Guildford wished to cling on to his job till at the very least the tip of the month.

But stress continued to construct after Downing Street additionally stated it had misplaced confidence in him.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism stated: “Under Craig Guildford’s leadership, West Midlands Police lied and obfuscated, victim-blaming Jews instead of taking on the Islamists.

“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.

“In any case, Mr Guildford’s must not be the last departure from among the force’s leadership, and obviously he cannot be replaced by another senior figure implicated in the same scandal.

“The disgraceful conduct of Mr Guildford and Mr Foster shows who really rules the roost in local affairs in Birmingham.

“Focus must now turn to the Islamists who browbeat the police into carrying out their wishes to ban Jews: which individuals, groups and radical mosques participated in the campaign?

“What has happened in Birmingham is a test case for the British state.

“The man who is the national police lead on ethics and misconduct distorted reality and appeased Islamists before the eyes of the nation and instead of being sacked immediately, he was allowed to see himself out at his own pace, with all of the enormous benefits of retirement.

“The failures here are so multi-layered that it is no exaggeration to say that what happens next could well determine the future health of British society. If we do not stand up to blatant radicalism and institutional appeasement, this country is done for.”

Police watchdog Sir Andy Cooke found that West Midlands were guilty of “confirmation bias”, seeking only evidence to support their desire for a ban rather than “following the evidence”.

This saw the force focus on a Dutch game where there had been violence, but not more peaceful matches in Greece, Ukraine and Denmark.

Inaccurate claims included links between fans and the Israeli Defense Forces, the targeting of Muslim communities, the mass tearing down of Palestinian flags, and attacks on police officers and on taxi drivers.

The Labour Home Secretary slammed the intelligence failures.

She said: “The West Midlands Police engagement with the Dutch police is among the most disquieting components of Sir Andy’s report.

“The summary, provided as evidence to the Safety Advisory Group ahead of their crucial meeting on the 24th October was inaccurate.

“Claims together with the variety of law enforcement officials deployed, hyperlinks between followers and the Israeli Defense Forces, the focusing on of Muslim communities, the mass tearing down of Palestinian flags, assaults on law enforcement officials and on taxi drivers had been all both exaggerated or just unfaithful.”

And the Home Secretary will reintroduce powers to allow her to sack chief constables.

Mr Guildford admitted his force used AI to find evidence of trouble involving the Israeli team.

And it justified banning fans after the AI search found social media posts about violence at a fictitious match involving West Ham United on November 9 2023.

That day, West Ham were playing against Greek side Olympiacos. Maccabi Tel Aviv, meanwhile, were playing in Lublin, Poland.

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