British Judo vows to launch inquiry after coaches arrested

Judo was open to bringing in a register of those banned from working with children

British Judo promised to launch a fresh risk assessment across the sport last night after it emerged two coaches were arrested over separate sex offence claims in 2019.

One registered instructor was arrested for engaging in sexual communications with a child, while another was arrested for voyeurism after placing a camera in female toilets. The sport’s governing body said the “cases do not relate to judo in any way”, but further inquiries will be launched when police complete investigations.

British Judo said it had already carried out one risk assessment after being alerted by the unspecified police forces involved. “Once the police investigation is completed, British Judo will conduct a further risk assessment and make an appropriate decision,” a statement from the governing body said.

The cases came to light a fortnight after judo was one of a host of sports to tell The Daily Telegraph they were open to the implementation of a register of coaches banned from working with children.

Last year, the sport, working with Sport England, appointed Lime Culture

to carry out an independent review of the safeguarding processes. The review found there were 100 safeguarding cases reported to the British Judo Association in 2017, followed by 69 in 2018 and 54 in the first nine months of 2019. The review team states that it is “concerned current policies and procedures around safeguarding lack sufficient independence and transparency and that consequently the BJA are susceptible to challenge around decisionmaking and responses to safeguarding concerns”.

British Judo responded by saying it “is working closely with Sport England and the Child Protection in Sport Unit to implement the recommendations”. “The majority have already been introduced and others are in the process of being introduced,” a spokesman added. “Sport England has told us they are ‘happy with the contents and recommendations contained within the report and British Judo’s positive response’. Safeguarding has been and remains a priority across our sport.”

The 2019 allegations are not related to a separate bullying investigation within the sport.