West Midlands chief constable resigns after Copilot-fuelled intelligence error

Pcgamer reports West Midlands Police chief constable Craig Guildford has announced his resignation after the force admitted using faulty information from Microsoft's Copilot AI in its decision to ban Israeli fans from a November 2025 Europa League match.

The ban was informed by an intelligence report that referenced a fabricated West Ham v Maccabi Tel Aviv match and included interpretations of November 2024 Amsterdam fan violence that Dutch authorities have since questioned. Guildford told the Home Affairs Committee in a letter that the bogus West Ham result "arose as result of a use of Microsoft Copilot" and acknowledged the force had failed to fact-check the AI output; in a December hearing he had earlier said he believed the information came from social media. In his letter he offered his "profound apology to the Committee for this error."

In a retirement statement Guildford blamed "the political and media frenzy" for his decision, saying ongoing attention had become detrimental to officers and staff, and did not apologise there for the force's handling of the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match or for including inaccurate information. He said retirement was in the best interests of the organisation, himself and his family, following days of criticism and officials saying they had "lost confidence" in him.

Key Topics

Tech, Microsoft Copilot, Craig Guildford, West Midlands Police, Aston Villa, Maccabi Tel Aviv