What happened
It was reported that West Midlands Police supplied intelligence that underpinned a decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa on 6 November 2025.
It was reported that eight errors were later identified in the police material. One overstated Maccabi supporters’ involvement in disorder in Amsterdam. Another referred to a match between West Ham United and Maccabi Tel Aviv that had never taken place. That error was later attributed to a Microsoft Copilot search.
It was reported that on 6 January 2026, the chief constable told the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee that the force had not used AI. Six days later, he wrote to the committee saying the incorrect information about the West Ham match had come from a Microsoft Copilot search. He retired on 16 January.
What an auditable version would have shown
The Copilot result is the clearest error because the underlying fact was easy to check. The two clubs had never played each other.
But this was wider than one AI sourced result. Eight errors were reported in the police material, and the IOPC is now examining how the intelligence was gathered, checked and handled.
It was reported that the Copilot connection became known while material was being prepared for an inspection. The sources reviewed do not show that the force already had a record identifying which parts of the intelligence had involved AI.
A record for each material claim could have shown where it came from, whether AI was involved, who checked it and what that check found.
Where the gap was
It was reported that the IOPC is investigating how the briefings and intelligence report were prepared, how information was obtained, what checks were made and how records were kept. Those are questions under investigation, not findings.
A VerificationGate is designed to check a factual claim against a trusted source before it is relied on. In this case, whether two football clubs had ever played each other could be checked against the fixture record. A ConductRecord keeps the source, any AI involvement, the check and the wording that eventually appears in the intelligence product.
Neither decides what public order advice police should give.
What governance should have looked like
It was reported that the IOPC’s update of 26 August 2026 said it had examined more than 600 pieces of evidence, and that it is investigating the former chief constable, another senior officer and a staff member for potential gross misconduct, with two other senior officers being investigated for potential misconduct.
That reporting also records the IOPC as alleging that the staff member involved in researching and compiling intelligence sourced inaccurate information from AI searches and took no subsequent action to help ensure it was excluded from the briefings. These remain allegations under investigation. The IOPC has made no finding that misconduct occurred, and serving a notice does not mean disciplinary proceedings will follow.
Where an organisation relies on intelligence to support a consequential decision, best practice would be to keep a record for every material factual claim showing where it came from, whether AI contributed to it, who checked it and what the check found before that information was relied on.
Failure Pattern: it was reported that police intelligence underpinning a restriction on supporters contained eight errors, including a reference to a football match that had never happened. The incorrect match was later attributed to a Microsoft Copilot search.
Governance Principle: where an organisation relies on intelligence to support a consequential decision, it should be able to show where each material claim came from, whether AI contributed to it and how it was checked before being relied on.
The reference implementation of VerificationGate and ConductRecord is open source. It lives at github.com/saffronandindia/headlights-oss, Apache 2.0 licensed and free to install. The repository is public now.
Sources
- IOPC announces independent investigation into Maccabi fans ban, with the later update on the Police and Crime Commissioner referral (Independent Office for Police Conduct, 19 January 2026)
- Statement on the IOPC investigation into the former chief constable (West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, 26 August 2026)
- Report carrying the IOPC’s 26 August 2026 update, the eight errors and the misconduct notices (The Jewish Chronicle, 26 August 2026)
- Microsoft Copilot blamed by chief constable for Maccabi Tel Aviv ban, carrying the letter to the committee chair (UKAuthority, January 2026)
- Report on the sequence and the retirement (The Register, 19 January 2026)
- West Midlands police admit AI error behind decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from UK match (Computing, 2026)