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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Neha Gohil Midlands Correspondent

Commissioner says he couldn’t sack police chief ‘on the spot’ over Maccabi Tel Aviv ban

In glasses and a blue suit and tie, Simon Foster, the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, is photographed outside West Midlands police headquarters in Birmingham.
Asked why he had not immediately sacked chief constable Craig Guildford, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster, said ‘There’s no legal power on the part of a police and crime commissioner to summarily sack a chief constable on the spot‘ Photograph: Andrew Fox/The Guardian

The West Midlands police and crime commissioner has said politicians provided a “degree of fiction” regarding his power to sack a police chief over the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, adding it was not an “episode of The Apprentice”.

The home secretary withdrew her confidence in chief constable Craig Guildford after an official inquiry found West Midlands police had “exaggerated” intelligence to justify a ban on fans attending the Europa League match against Aston Villa last year, leading to calls for the police and crime commissioner to sack him. Despite this, Guildford remained in post for a further two days until he announced his retirement.

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