A police chief blamed the use of AI in an has an apology to MPs for giving them an error in evidence about the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
West Midlands Police has faced questions over its handling of the decision to ban supporters of the Israeli football team from attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa on 6 November.
Chief constable Craig Guildford has now written to the home affairs committee to apologise for the mistake, after he appeared twice to give evidence over the controversy.
The AI search found social media posts about a match between Maccabi and West Ham United that never happened, which was then referenced in a report to the Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group over whether to prevent supporters from attending the game.
Mr Guildford told the Commons home affairs committee in a letter that until Friday afternoon, he believed the mistake was caused by using Google, when in fact it was the result of Microsoft Copilot, an AI tool.
He offered his “profound apology” for the error, but added: “My belief that this was the case was honestly held and there was no intention to mislead the committee.”
In a letter to Dame Karen Bradley, the chair of the committee, Mr Guildford said: “In preparation for the force response to the HMICFRS inquiry into this matter, on Friday afternoon I became aware that the erroneous result concerning the West Ham vs Maccabi Tel Aviv match arose as result of a use of Microsoft Copilot.”
He added: “I had understood and been advised that the match had been identified by way of a Google search in preparation for attending HAC.”
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood will make a statement to MPs after she received a report on the decision to bar Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa in November.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary has this morning received the chief inspectorate’s findings into the recommendation by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.
“She will carefully consider the letter and will make a statement in the House of Commons in response later today.”
The fixture had been classified as high risk by West Midlands Police based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”, with the force pointing to violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam.
But the Netherlands Police disputed information in a West Midlands Police report, which detailed justifications for the ban.
At the time, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the ban as “the wrong decision”, and Ms Mahmood has since ordered the policing watchdog to examine how forces in England and Wales provide risk assessments to safety advisory groups, which inform measures around high-profile events.
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
