Deny, deny, admit: UK police used Copilot AI “hallucination” when banning football fans

After repeatedly denying for weeks that his force used AI tools, the chief constable of the West Midlands police has finally admitted that a hugely controversial decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from the UK did involve hallucinated information from Microsoft Copilot.

In October 2025, Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) met to decide whether an upcoming football match between Aston Villa (based in Birmingham) and Maccabi Tel Aviv could be held safely.

Tensions were heightened in part due to an October 2 terror attack against a synagogue in Manchester where several people were killed by an Islamic attacker.

West Midlands Police, who were a key member of the SAG, argued that the upcoming football match could lead to violence in Birmingham, and they recommended banning fans from the game. The police pointed specifically to claims that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had been violent in a recent football ...