West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford to retire following Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban row

The chief constable of West Midlands Police (WMP) is to retire following a row over the force's decision to ban Israeli football fans from a match in Birmingham for safety reasons.

Craig Guildford will step down with immediate effect, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said on Friday.

"In doing so, he has acted with honour and in the best interests of West Midlands Police and our region. I welcome his decision," Mr Foster said.

Mr Guildford said after his retirement was announced that the "political and media frenzy" around his position had become "detrimental" to the force.

His decision comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she did not have confidence in the police chief, following his force's controversial ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from a Europa League tie against Aston Villa at Villa Park in November.

On Wednesday, Ms Mahmood said: "We have witnessed a failure of leadership that has harmed the reputation of and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police, and policing more broadly."

After it was announced that Mr Guildford would retire, the home secretary welcomed the move and said he had "done the right thing".

"I would like to acknowledge his years of service. And I pay tribute to the work of the officers in West Midlands Police, who keep their community safe every day," Ms Mahmood said.

"Today marks a crucial first step to rebuilding trust and confidence in the force amongst all the communities they serve."

But Villa Park MP Ayoub Khan criticised Mr Guildford's retirement in a statement, saying it was "one of the greatest injustices of our time", a chief constable was "sacrificed not for failure, but for doing his duty".

He added Mr Guildford is "a public servant [who was] ousted for protecting the people of Birmingham and refusing to play politics; a police commander removed for judging the Maccabi Tel Aviv ultras not on their faith or nationality, but on the storied history of violence, racism and thuggery that showed the content of their character".

On Wednesday, Mr Guildford had apologised to MPs for giving them "erroneous" evidence about the ban. He revealed that WMP's citing of a fictional match to justify the ban was down to the force's use of AI, something Mr Guildford had previously denied to MPs.

The force, which has been accused of misrepresenting the threat posed by the Maccabi fans to justify its ban, also apologised last month for telling MPs that members of the Jewish community had backed its decision, admitting there was "no documented feedback" to support the claim.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch were among those who criticised the decision to ban away fans from attending the Israeli side's match in the UK's second-largest city on 6 November.

Sir Keir was said to be "angered" by the decision, while Ms Badenoch went further and said Mr Guildford's position was "untenable", and claimed he had "capitulated to Islamists and then collaborated with them to cover it up".

"West Midlands Police have been subjected to, understandable, intense and significant oversight and scrutiny as a consequence of events that led to the recommendation it made" to the Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group to ban the fans, Mr Foster acknowledged on Friday.

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He said WMP had received a letter from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, which "set out significant preliminary concerns and shortcomings in relation to preparation and planning" by the force.

Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green has been appointed as WMP's acting chief constable, Mr Foster said.

"We have already met, to discuss the actions that the force must take to rebuild trust and confidence amongst all the people and communities of the West Midlands, including addressing the significant matters identified in the letter from HMIC," he added.

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