US EditionCraig Guildford to retire after scandal over Maccabi Tel Aviv ban
Craig Guildford retires after a policing watchdog found eight inaccuracies and a leadership failure in West Midlands Police's advice to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, Home Secretary said.
- On Friday, Craig Guildford, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, retires with full pension after 32 years following a damning report on banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Aston Villa match.
- The inspectorate concluded West Midlands Police retrofitted exaggerated and untrue evidence, made misleading statements, and showed confirmation bias seeking evidence to justify the fan ban.
- Cooke's report highlighted that no evidence supported claims of 5,000 officers deployed or more than 200 linked to the Israel Defence Forces among 2,800 Israeli fans, and the force wrongly cited intelligence from the Dutch fixture.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she lost confidence and is introducing powers to sack police chiefs, while Simon Foster declined to sack Guildford and approved his retirement.
- Campaigners reacted angrily, noting Campaign Against Antisemitism said the force 'lied and obfuscated' and Guildford's retire-and-rehire scheme sparked anger among rank-and-file West Midlands officers.
86 Articles
86 Articles
Police Chief Walks Away With Pension After Israeli Fan Ban Scandal
Craig Guildford, the chief constable who oversaw the decision to ban Israeli football supporters from a European match in Birmingham, retired with immediate effect on Friday after senior inspectors found serious failures in how the ban was justified and communicated. Guildford stepped down from his post at West Midlands Police after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood publicly withdrew confidence in his leadership. The controversy relates to the excl…
Israel lobby brings down West Mids chief constable on behalf of racist Maccabi thugs
West Midlands chief constable Craig Guildford has taken early retirement after a relentless campaign by the Israel lobby to oust him for daring to ban racist thugs from attending a football match between Aston Villa and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Craig Guildford taken out by the Israel lobby Craig Guildford’s force made minor process errors in reaching the decision to bar Maccabi ‘fans’ from Birmingham and UK media and politicians misreprese…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
