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Craig Guildford is to retire as chief constable of West Midlands<\/a> police, the Guardian understands.<\/p>\n His departure comes after an official inquiry found his force used \u201cexaggerated and untrue\u201d intelligence to justify a ban on Israeli football fans.<\/p>\n The decision is scheduled to be officially announced at 4pm on Friday by the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster.<\/p>\n The pressure on one of Britain\u2019s most senior chief constables has been intense after the basis for his force\u2019s claims about the ban unravelled and the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said she had no confidence<\/a> in him.<\/p>\n In the end Guildford decided the pressure was too much.<\/p>\n He had wanted to wait until at least 27 January, when his police and crime commissioner had called a meeting where the chief constable would be publicly questioned.<\/p>\n He has served 32 years as an officer and will retire on Friday, and be entitled to his full pension.<\/p>\n Guildford, 52, felt the intense row and criticism was a distraction unlikely to die down or go away.<\/p>\n The fallout led some of his fellow chief constables to believe he should go and that by clinging on Guildford was damaging the reputation of policing nationally and its standing with the public.<\/p>\n Foster accepted his decision, made on Friday.<\/p>\n Guildford had been clinging on to his job, which has a salary of more than \u00a3220,000 a year, despite criticism from the prime minister, the home secretary, other senior ministers and the leader of the Conservatives.<\/p>\n An inquiry by His Majesty\u2019s Inspectorate of Constabulary criticised West Midlands police for its mishandling of intelligence used to justify the ban, in a report that the home secretary described as \u201cdevastating\u201d.<\/p>\n Mahmood said the blame for failings detailed in the report by the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, and Guildford\u2019s continued insistence his force was right, meant Guildford had to go.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cFaced by a game of such importance, the chief constable of the force, Craig Guildford, should have ensured more professional and thorough work was done.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Sir Andy himself says, the \u2018shortcomings\u2019 detailed in his report are, and I quote, \u2018symptomatic of a force not applying the necessary strategic oversight and not paying enough attention to important matters of detail, including at the most senior levels\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate responsibility for the force\u2019s failure to discharge its duties on a matter of such national importance rests with the chief constable, and it is for that reason that I must declare today that the chief constable of West Midlands police no longer has my confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Guildford testified twice before MPs on the home affairs committee, with each appearance prompting further criticism. In the first hearing, he admitted part of a force dossier contained a reference to a Maccabi game against West Ham, which never happened, and which was gathered erroneously using artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n Foster will now have to find a new chief constable for the Birmingham-headquartered force.<\/p>\n Guildford was chief of West Midlands police from 2022 and Foster had praised him for boosting the force\u2019s crime-fighting and service to the public.<\/p>\n