West Midlands Police has confirmed it ‘overstated the evidence’ received from Dutch police and made a number of other errors in its assessments ahead of the high profile Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League match
The new Acting Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Scott Green, has spoken of the ‘damning’ findings of an HMICFRS report into the way the force handled the ‘planning, policing and subsequent response to the Aston Villa versus Maccabi Tel Aviv’ match(Image: )
The fallout from West Midlands Police’s preparations for an Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv continues with a new report from the force admitting a series of errors, including ‘overstating evidence’.
In a report ahead of next week’s Accountability and Governance Board (AGB) latest meeting, where the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner will scrutinise the force and chief constable’s actions, West Midlands Police has ‘admitted evidence’.
West Midlands Police provided intelligence and its assessments to Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group, ahead of the highly charged Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League fixture which was due to take place on Thursday, November 6.
Read more: Police chief admits AI was used in fan ban report as he apologisesd to MPs
The force has now admitted that it ‘overstated the evidence’ received from the Dutch police over clashes before and after the Ajax Maccabi game in November 2024.
The admission comes in a report to be presented by the chief officer team of West Midlands Police to the AGB next week.
The new report states: “WMP accepts that we organisationally ‘overstated the evidence’ within the material which was shared during the third SAG meeting. We are unable to comment further as this matter now falls within the scope of the IOPC investigation.”
Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp
It adds: “As we have stated throughout this report, WMP accept that we have ‘overstated the evidence’ as highlighted by HMICFRS.”
One claim about 5,000 Dutch officers being needed to police the Ajax game was conceded to be a ‘mistake’ with this being the ‘professional assessment of the Silver Commander’ – not fact.
The report also said West Midlands Police’s meetings with their Dutch counterparts should have been recorded.
Read more: West Midlands Police refers itself to IOPC after ‘damning’ Villa Maccabi report
In addition, in the new report West Midlands Police accepts: “We did not engage early enough with the local Jewish Community.”
And it says had away fans – numbering 2,500 been allowed the policing operation would have cost in excess of £5 million and spanned four days.
The report says West Midlands Police should have contacted more than just the Dutch police ahead of the Aston Villa game and spoken to forces from other countries.
But the West Midlands force claims it did brief the Home Secretary, Birmingham Ladywood MP, Shabana Mahmood, on the working assumption of a ban on away fans on October 8, eight days of the ban becoming public knowledge on October 16.
The Home Office claimed its understanding was ‘all options were on the table’ up to October 15.
Scott Green has been appointed as Acting Chief Constable of West Midlands Police after the immediate retirement of Craig Guildford(Image: WMP)
The West Midlands force said it accepted the preliminary findings of Sir Andy Cooke from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), who said failings in the force’s ‘planning, policing and subsequent response to the Aston Villa versus Maccabi Tel Aviv’ were ‘damning’.
He said reports to the SAG had “exaggerated statements about the behaviour of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at the November 2024 Ajax v Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture in Amsterdam”.
Sir Andy, the chief inspector of HMICFRS, said ‘confirmation bias’ had influenced the force’s decision to ban Maccabi fans.
That is a ‘tendency to interpret new information as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories’.
He said: “In policing, this can mean seeking out evidence that supports a predisposed view.”
There were ‘exaggerated statements about the behaviour of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at the November 2024 Ajax v Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture’.
Sir Andy Cooke found eight exaggerated claims:
1. False report of West Ham Maccabi game
A report to the SAG included reference to a West Ham v Maccabi Tel Aviv, that never took place, which former Chief Constable Craig Guildford, after first denying AI (artificial intelligence) had been used then confirmed the erroneous match came from use of Microsoft Co-Pilot – an AI system now banned by Acting Chief Constable Scott green, from West Midlands Police systems.
West Midlands Police said the force is currently undertaking a review of its use and policy regarding AI.
2. 5,000 Dutch police on duty
West Midlands Police had claimed some 5,000 Dutch police were required over three days to quell disorder. But Dutch police first said 2,000 officers had been deployed and then that the number was 1,200. They did say 5,000 had been deployed in Paris for an Israeli national team fixture.
3. Over 200 (of 2,800) Maccabi fans part of Israeli Defence Forces
Sir Andy Cooke said: “This is a conflation of multiple sources of information and is incorrectly stated as fact.”
4. Some 500 to 600 Maccabi fans targeted Muslim communities
There was evidence that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans targeted Muslims and pro-Palestinians, but they targeted individuals rather than residential communities.
Read more: Minsters handed top cop sack power after Villa fan ban costs chief constable job
5. Hundreds of fans ‘tearing down Palestine flags’
Sir Andy Cooke said: “The Dutch police told us one Palestinian flag had been pulled down. In official Dutch reports, there are three recorded incidents involving flags.
A further report of Palestinian flags being set on fire – was in fact one person attempting to set fire to a single flag.
6. Fans committing serious assaults on Muslim taxi drivers
“One of the official Dutch reports contains a reference to a single report of an assault on one taxi driver.” Sir Andy Cooke said. “Other taxi cars and motor scooters were attacked and damaged, but it is unclear if they were occupied at the time.”
7. Fans ‘throwing innocent members of the public into the river’
“This is inaccurate,” Sir Andy Cooke said. “The Dutch police told us that one Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter was thrown into a canal, apparently by members of a pro-Palestinian group.”
8. Several Dutch police officers injured during ‘sustained confrontation’
The reality Sir Andy Cooke said was that: “ The Dutch police told us that one officer had sustained hearing loss during the disorder.”
Aston Villa (left) and Maccabi Tel Aviv club badges on a scarf before a match at Villa Park(Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
The SAG confirmed a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, with Aston Villa confirming on October 16, there would be no away fans allowed at the match.
The club said the ban followed instruction from the SAG, which was responsible for issuing safety certificates.
At the time West Midlands Police said: “West Midlands Police supports the decision to prohibit away supporters from attending.
“This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Amsterdam.”
Get the latest BirminghamLive news direct to your inbox
The ban led to a backlash from politicians and then intense scrutiny on how the decision had been made.
Ultimately, it has led to the retirement of now former Chief Constable Craig Guildford and the appointment of Acting Chief Constable Scott Green.
Despite away fans being banned, there was still a heavy police presence on the day to manage protests by pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli groups and counter-protests by pro-Israel groups.
Some 1,186 officers were on duty to police the protests and the 21,000 home fans that attended. Some eleven arrests were made.
PCC Simon Foster will hear more on Tuesday (January 27) and the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently assessing the West Midlands force’s self-referral.
