The chief of Britain’s West Midlands Police has apologized to members of Parliament after admitting he provided false information that helped justify barring Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from a Europa League match against Aston Villa, blaming the error on the use of an artificial intelligence tool.
Craig Guildford, the chief constable, acknowledged that incorrect intelligence presented to lawmakers ahead of the match was generated using Microsoft Copilot, contradicting earlier claims that the information had come from a standard Google search.
The apology came as Britain’s Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, was set to address Parliament after receiving a report on the controversial decision to block Israeli fans from entering Villa Park in Birmingham for the November 6 match, which police had classified as “high risk.”
Police have now conceded that they presented a misleading security assessment to justify the exclusion of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters.
In a letter to Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee, Guildford said testimony he and his deputy, Mike O’Hara, gave to lawmakers was based on an incorrect understanding of how the information had been gathered.
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Anti-Israeli protests outside the stadium during the match
(Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
“I was advised and believed that the information had been collected through a Google search in preparation for my appearance before the committee,” Guildford wrote. “That belief was entirely genuine.” He said he later learned the source was Microsoft Copilot.
A report submitted to Birmingham City Council’s safety advisory group cited a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham United, a fixture that never took place. Guildford said he only became aware of the AI-related error after appearing before the committee in early December and again on January 6.
Guildford expressed “deep regret” over the incident, stressing there was no intention to mislead Parliament.
The decision to bar Israeli fans drew widespread criticism at the time, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who described it as “the wrong decision.”
Further scrutiny followed an investigation by The Times last month, which revealed that West Midlands Police had previously claimed in confidential documents that Israeli fans threw “innocent civilians into a river” ahead of a Maccabi match against Ajax in Amsterdam last year. The documents also alleged that up to 600 fans had “deliberately targeted Muslim communities,” prompting the deployment of 5,000 police officers.
Dutch authorities later rejected those claims, saying only about 1,200 officers were deployed and that the violence against Maccabi supporters had been planned in advance by attackers.
West Midlands Police also told British officials that the local Jewish community had urged authorities to block Israeli fans from attending the Villa Park match due to fears of unrest. During the parliamentary inquiry, it emerged that no such consultation had taken place. Guildford later apologized for that claim as well.
The case has intensified debate in Britain over the use of AI-generated information in policing and decision-making, particularly when it carries consequences for public safety, civil liberties and minority communities.