𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The former police chief at the centre of the row over Israeli football fans has been referred to the police standards watchdog over potential misconduct. Craig Guildford, who blamed a “political and media frenzy” as he quit over the Israeli football fan scandal, has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Mr Guildford, who is set to keep his pension, dodged the sack after West Midlands Police was accused of using “falsified intelligence” to justify banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a game against Aston Villa.

But in a statement on Monday, after meeting West Midlands Police’s acting chief and acting deputy chief constables, Simon Foster, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner 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 (IOPC) 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 November 6 remains a top priority.”

And the watchdog has opened a probe into the bungled handling of the football match.

Rachel Watson, IOPC director general, said: “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 HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services).

“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.

“It was incumbent on those preparing and delivering the report to ensure its veracity and that reasonable efforts be made to ensure it was accurate.

“Our investigation will also consider the record keeping, or lack of, by individual officers and the assertion in briefing documents to the Sag that local representatives of the Jewish community in Birmingham had been consulted.”

Mr Guildford described the reaction to the ban as a “political and media frenzy” after he stepped down with immediate effect.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, announcing she had lost confidence in the force, said the force “overstated” the threat posed by Israeli football fans whilst underplaying the risk from local Islamist mobs ahead of the match.

A police watchdog probe into the scandal found the intelligence was “exaggerated” in some cases, whilst in others it was “untrue”.

Labour PCC Mr Foster initially refused to sack the Chief Constable as he attempted to cling on to power.

And Mr Guildford wanted to remain in post until at least the end of the month.

But pressure continued to build after Downing Street also said it had lost confidence in him.

He said in a bizarre statement on Friday night: “I have come to the conclusion that the political and media frenzy around myself and my position has become detrimental to all the great work undertaken by my officers and staff in serving communities across the West Midlands.

“I have carefully considered my position and concluded that retirement is in the best interests of the organisation, myself and my family.”

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.

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.