Several women have now publicly come forward with sexual assault allegations against Izaak Michell, including his former teammate Hannah Griffith. The news comes just a matter of days after the rumours about Michell started to surface, and several sources close to the situation started to speak out publicly. Michell was very publicly removed from the Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu team without any further comment but the statement that the team had ‘been advised that no further details should be made public at this time’ was enough for many people to guess what it was related to. It didn’t take long for it to be confirmed either, as another of Michell’s former teammates Craig Jones was immediately open about the situation.
Michell was kicked out of Jones’ team, B-Team Jiu-Jitsu, and banned from CJI due to his previous actions, although that was apparently unrelated to the recent allegations. By virtue of their prior association with Michell and the fact that they operate in the same city as Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu, his former teammates apparently knew much of what was going on shortly before it was made public. Nicky Ryan even confirmed there were multiple sexual assault allegations against Michell just a few days after he was removed from Kingsway without elaboration. The Kingsway team had remained quiet until now, although it makes sense if Ryan was correct and the police are currently involved.
Hannah Griffith was the first woman to share her experience publicly and she made a point of thanking her brother Luke Griffith for supporting her, along with her coaches for taking swift action to remove Michell from the team. Griffith’s full statement was shared in a post to her official Instagram account, and it can be found below:
Just a few hours later, Ariel Hayle also shared her experience publicly in an Instagram post. Craig Jones helped to amplify her statement and share it among the BJJ community too:
