The chief constable of West Midlands Police has retired with a full pension after finally giving in to mounting calls to quit over the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban.
Craig Guildford, 52, had been facing immense pressure to leave his post for misleading MPs and the public over the decision to bar supporters of the Israeli side from a European game against Aston Villa.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she had lost confidence in Mr Guildford on Wednesday but the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, had declined to sack him.
Mr Foster, who is the only person with the power to sack Mr Guildford, confirmed Mr Guildford’s departure in a statement outside police headquarters in Birmingham, before refusing to answer questions.
He said: ‘The Chief Constable, Craig Guildford, has today retired from West Midlands Police with immediate effect. In doing so, he has acted with honour and in the best interests of West Midlands Police and our region. I welcome his decision.
‘I am pleased this outcome has been reached having regard to due process and the law.
That has prevented what might otherwise have been a complex procedure, that would have caused significant distraction, impact and cost to West Midlands Police and the wider West Midlands. It was important this matter was resolved in a balanced, calm, fair, measured and respectful manner.’
Mr Foster said he wanted to acknowledge Mr Guildford’s ‘positive achievements and contributions’ and said he had appointed Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green as the acting chief constable.
Ms Mahmood responded by saying the police chief had ‘done the right thing’.
The development comes after farcical scenes yesterday when the chief constable gagged his own officers from questioning why he wouldn’t quit as he desperately attempted to cling on.
A day after a mauling in the Commons which saw Ms Mahmood and West Midlands MPs, councillors and community leaders calling for him to resign over the scandal, Mr Guildford returned to his office yesterday bullishly telling staff he would not bow to pressure.
But the beleaguered chief then spent the day on the phone to other chief constables begging him to quit after the Home Secretary said the saga was damaging trust and confidence in policing.
Chief constable of West Midlands Police Craig Guildford giving evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on the ban on football fans attending a match
In the final blow, a Downing Street spokesman said the government ‘no longer’ had confidence in Mr Guildford, effectively forcing his hand.
The Daily Mail understands that Mr Guildford had hoped the scandal would ‘blow over’ and was consulting lawyers about his options believing he had been ‘unfairly treated’, but his position looked increasingly isolated as the day wore on.
Yesterday it emerged that the chief constable is still the national police lead for professional standards, ethics, complaints and misconduct – even though the government does not believe he is fit to remain in office.
As a non-statutory body, the National Police Chiefs Council has no power to remove him from the key post.
In an extraordinary farce, Mr Guildford is listed to chair a misconduct hearing in the case of a PC accused of ‘discreditable conduct’ on the same day the chief is due to face an accountability panel himself after misleading the public over the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending an Aston Villa match last November.
Mr Foster has ordered the chief to answer questions over the scandal at a governance board on January 27.
Yesterday Suky Samra, the chair of the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel, which has the job of scrutinising Mr Foster’s work, described the chief’s position as ‘very questionable’.
In another development, the Independent Office for Police Conduct announced it is considering whether to launch a conduct investigation after examining a report by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke which revealed how evidence was fabricated and exaggerated by police to justify the ban.
Yesterday Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘I find it jaw-dropping, actually, that having misled Parliament and misled the public, that the chief constable hasn’t resigned.
‘I find it even more extraordinary that having lost the confidence of the Home Secretary, who is also one of his local MPs and still not resign, I just find that absolutely outrageous.’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she had lost confidence in Mr Guildford on Wednesday but the police and crime commissioner declined to sack him
He told Times Radio: ‘I honestly thought that anyone with integrity would at that point say, I have to resign.
‘And the fact he hasn’t, I really think, is a stain on his character that if he doesn’t act quickly, he won’t be able to remove.
‘I will be horrified if he is still in post by the end of the day.’
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also piled on pressure saying it was ‘astonishing’ he had not quit.
Earlier, the force sent a briefing paper to its officers, local police federation and trade unions and West Midlands Police staff associations gagging them from commenting on his fate.
An internal edict warned rank and file officers it would be ‘inappropriate and unprofessional’ to discuss his future, despite politicians across West Midlands siding with the Government that the game was up.
Staff were told that ‘the force is committed to minimising the negative community impact of these matters’.
But the missive quickly backfired when outraged officers leaked the document in protest at being silenced over the scandal causing irreparable damage to the force.
Ms Mahmood said today: ‘The findings of the Chief Inspector were damning. They set out a catalogue of failings that have harmed trust in West Midlands Police.
‘By stepping down, Craig Guildford has done the right thing today.
‘I would like to acknowledge his years of service. And I pay tribute to the work of the officers in West Midlands Police, who keep their community safe every day.
‘Today marks a crucial first step to rebuilding trust and confidence in the force amongst all the communities they serve.’
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.
‘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.’
