The storm surrounding West Midlands Police (WMP) and its chief constable, Craig Guildford, has only intensified after revelations that artificial intelligence (AI) played a pivotal—albeit disastrous—role in barring Israeli football fans from a high-profile Europa League match in Birmingham. What began as a safety measure has spiraled into a political and community controversy, with mounting calls for Guildford’s resignation and searching questions about accountability, policing, and the influence of local lobbying on public safety decisions.
It all started in November 2024, when Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were barred from attending their team’s away match against Aston Villa at Villa Park. The Birmingham Safety Advisory Group, which includes representatives from the city council, emergency services, and WMP, classified the fixture as “high risk.” The catalyst, according to WMP, was violence that erupted after a previous Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Amsterdam. But as The Guardian reported, Dutch police later contradicted this narrative, clarifying that most victims of the violence were in fact Maccabi fans themselves, not perpetrators.
The situation took a bizarre turn when it emerged that WMP’s intelligence dossier referenced a supposed match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham United—a fixture that never took place. The error was traced to an AI hallucination: a WMP officer had used Microsoft Copilot, an AI chatbot, which fabricated details about the non-existent match. Initially, Chief Constable Craig Guildford denied that AI had been used, insisting the information was found via a Google search. However, in January 2026, Guildford wrote to the Home Affairs Select Committee, admitting the error and apologizing for unintentionally misleading MPs.
"Despite denials at two separate hearings, it turns out they did use AI to produce their dodgy ‘intelligence’ dossier," Conservative MP Nick Timothy posted on X, echoing a sentiment of disbelief and frustration that has only grown louder in Westminster. The BBC’s Daniel Sandford described the admission as “hugely embarrassing” for Guildford, but pointed out that the mishandling of intelligence and subsequent attempts to double down on the decision are even more damaging for public trust in the force.
Political fallout was swift and severe. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood delivered a statement to the House of Commons on January 14, 2026, declaring she no longer had confidence in Guildford’s leadership. “On an issue of huge significance for the Jewish community in this country and to us all, we have witnessed a failure of leadership that has harmed the reputation and eroded public confidence in West Midlands Police and policing more broadly,” Mahmood said, according to BBC News. She urged Simon Foster, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, to consider the “damning” issues raised in a letter from Sir Andy Cook, the chief inspector of constabulary.
Despite these calls, Guildford has refused to resign. According to The Times, he is “digging in” and “lawyering up,” determined to see due process play out. Only the police and crime commissioner has the authority to dismiss him, and Foster has argued that MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee are “biased against Guildford.”
The controversy has exposed deeper rifts and accusations of bias. The Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph both suggested that the ban was less about genuine safety concerns and more about appeasing anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian voices within the community. A “secret dossier” reportedly showed police were aware of threats against Israeli players by Asian youths, and that the team was “constantly in danger of mob violence.” The police even consulted Green Lane Mosque, known for hosting radical preachers, before the match, a move that has drawn criticism from commentators who argue it reflects undue influence on operational decisions.
Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group itself has not escaped scrutiny. The Times highlighted that several councillors on the panel have publicly opposed Israel’s participation in sports, raising questions about impartiality and the true motivations behind the ban. Critics such as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused WMP of having “capitulated to Islamists,” while the Board of Deputies of British Jews argued that the force “seemed to have made a decision to ban fans first and then searched for evidence to justify it.”
For Guildford, the controversy marks a low point in a policing career that began in 1994 with Cheshire Police. He rose through the ranks across several forces, earning The Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2021. Guildford joined WMP in December 2022, promising to “bear down on criminals.” But his tenure has been checkered: in 2023, WMP was placed under special measures for failing in key areas, including investigative effectiveness and risk management. Though the force improved and was lifted from enhanced monitoring by October 2025, other challenges persisted. That same year, the West Midlands recorded the highest rate of knife crime in England and Wales, with 180 offences per 100,000 people. Guildford pointed to a 6% fall in overall crime by October 2025 as evidence of progress, but critics argue that the Maccabi match debacle has overshadowed those gains.
The saga has also revealed the limitations of current legislation: the home secretary cannot directly sack a chief constable, a gap Mahmood has pledged to address with new laws. In a twist, Guildford retired briefly in November 2024 to protect his pension, only to reapply and continue in his role the following month—a move backed by the police and crime commissioner as being in the “best interest” of the force.
Throughout, Guildford has insisted that the decision to ban Maccabi fans was based on safety, not politics. But as Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, told the Home Affairs Committee, the evidence provided by WMP “conflated” unrelated incidents and “overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, while understating the risks posed to the Israeli fans.” A letter from Dutch police, seen by the BBC, appeared to question the accuracy of WMP’s intelligence regarding the Amsterdam match, further undermining the force’s position.
As the inspectorate’s investigation continues, the future of Guildford—and the reputation of West Midlands Police—hangs in the balance. The episode has become a cautionary tale about the perils of relying on unverified AI-generated information, the need for transparent and impartial decision-making, and the challenges of policing in a climate charged with political and community pressures.
For many in Birmingham and beyond, the question now is not just who is to blame, but how trust in public institutions can be restored after such a bruising and public controversy.