Former West Midlands police chief referred to watchdog over choice to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv followers | EUROtoday

Retired chief constable Craig Guildford has been referred to the police watchdog over the choice to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer followers from attending a match in opposition to Aston Villa final November, simply days after he left his submit because of the scandal.

The 52-year-old introduced his retirement from the pressure on Friday after house secretary Shabana Mahmood stated she had misplaced confidence within the senior police boss after a “damning” watchdog evaluate confirmed “confirmation bias” and a “failure of leadership” in West Midlands Police.

Following Mr Guildford’s retirement, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, who had the ability to sack him however didn’t, stated he had acted with honour.

But in a press release on Monday, after assembly West Midlands Police’s appearing chief and appearing deputy chief constables, Mr Foster confirmed he had made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

“These matters have had a significant impact on public confidence, and the confidence of particular communities in the West Midlands. This is unacceptable”, he stated.

“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.

“Continuing to hold the force to account for its actions, arising from the ban on away supporters from attending the football match on 6 November, remains a top priority.”

The police watchdog confirmed on Monday that it’s going to examine the choice to ban the Israeli soccer group’s followers from attending the November Europa League match.

The IOPC stated it would decide if any officer or workers member might have a case to reply for misconduct, saying questions stay about particular person roles, duties and planning for the sport.

But it’s understood that the IOPC has not but obtained any referrals from the workplace of the Police and Crime Commissioner in relation to Mr Guildford.

Both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats had been pushing for an IOPC probe, with shadow house secretary secretary Chris Philp dubbing the chief constable’s transfer to retire “simply not good enough”.

“He should now face gross misconduct proceedings through an IOPC investigation – which can continue even after retirement or resignation”, he stated.

Last 12 months, Maccabi Tel Aviv followers have been barred from travelling to the sport at Villa Park in November by the native security advisory group (SAG), which cited security issues based mostly on recommendation from the police pressure.

But a evaluate by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke, ordered by the house secretary, discovered eight “inaccuracies” in a report from the pressure to Birmingham’s SAG, together with a reference to a non-existent recreation between Tel Aviv and West Ham, discovered to be an “AI hallucination” produced by Microsoft Copilot.

The house secretary described the report as “devastating” and stated it units out failures that permit down “our entire Jewish community”.

Ahead of the evaluate’s publication, Mr Guildford additionally apologised for giving incorrect proof to the house affairs committee, the place he appeared twice over the controversy and stated it was “never his intention” to mislead MPs.

Rachel Watson, IOPC director basic, stated: “In the last 24 hours, we’ve received new information from West Midlands Police around their initial assessment of any potential misconduct. We have also requested more evidence from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services [HMICFRS].

“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.

“Our investigation will examine the briefings and intelligence report provided to the Safety Advisory Group, which underpinned the decision to ban supporters. HMICFRS found it contained inaccuracies. We will go beyond that to understand who was involved in its preparation, how information was obtained, and what checks were in place.”

Announcing his retirement, Mr Guildford, who first grew to become a police constable in 1994 and had served as the pinnacle of West Midlands Police since 2022, stated the “political and media frenzy” round his place had “become detrimental to all the great work undertaken by my officers and staff”.