West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford is set to retire from his post.
His departure comes after the force was found to have used “exaggerated and untrue” intelligence to justify a ban on fans of an Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv, from attending a match against Aston Villa in Birmingham.
Chief Constable Guildford is set to make the announcement at a press conference at 4.00pm on Friday.
In response to Chief Constable Guildford’s impending retirement, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Craig Guildford disgraced himself and his force. Allowing Islamists to force the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and then fabricating evidence to pretend the ban was because of the Maccabi fans own behaviour was disgraceful.
“Craig Guildford should have been fired by the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner – but he was too weak to act. Craig Guildford’s move to retire is simply not good enough.
“He should now face gross misconduct proceedings through an IOPC investigation – which can continue even after retirement or resignation. I will now be writing to the IOPC to call for this.”
Mr Philp had previously called on Shabana Mahmood to sack the West Midlands Police chief, something she said said she did not have the power to do.
Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Under Craig Guildford’s leadership, West Midlands Police lied and obfuscated, victim-blaming Jews instead of taking on the Islamists.
West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford is set to retire from his post.
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PA“His retirement, after the pitiful failure of West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster to sack him, should result in the resignation of Mr Foster as well.
“In any case, Mr Guildford’s must not be the last departure from among the force’s leadership, and obviously he cannot be replaced by another senior figure implicated in the same scandal.”
Mr Falter added that the Chief Constable’s conduct had been “disgraceful”, and that attention must now turn “to the Islamists who browbeat the police into carrying out their wishes to ban Jews”.
“The failures here are so multi-layered that it is no exaggeration to say that what happens next could well determine the future health of British society,” he continued. “If we do not stand up to blatant radicalism and institutional appeasement, this country is done for.”
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