West Midlands Police admitted ‘mistakes were made’ over its controversial decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending an Aston Villa game, but made no mention of the future of Chief Constable Craig Guildford.
It comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said PC Guildford ‘no longer has my confidence’ after a damning report into the force’s decision to ban fans of the Isreali team from attending the match in Birmingham last year.
The force said in a statement on Wednesday evening: ‘We continue to actively engage and support HMICFRS’s inspection.
‘We have received a copy of the preliminary review today and acknowledge that this recognises the unintentional nature of our errors.
‘We are extremely sorry for the impact these have had on individuals and their communities.
‘We are taking immediate action to address the matters raised in these preliminary findings.
‘We know that mistakes were made but reiterate the findings that none of this was done with an intent of deliberate distortion or discrimination.’
West Midlands Police chief constable Craig Guildford at Home Affairs Committee on January 6
The letter continues: ‘West Midlands Police is an anti-discriminatory organisation and our planning for this football match was always about public safety of all communities.
‘We continue to focus on protecting the public of West Midlands and improving our services, as we have done relentlessly during the last several years.
‘We will now work tirelessly to rebuild confidence in West Midlands Police.’
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
