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wasn't sure wether to frop this here or on the local legends thread...

'Muscle touching' ban overturned

A 46-year-old Liverpool man who was banned from feeling people's muscles has had the decision overturned.

Akinwale Arobieke, of Devonshire Road, Toxteth, was given the order in October but judges at Liverpool Crown Court have since branded it "draconian".

Police applied for the order when Mr Arobieke was let out on licence after being jailed for six years in 2003 on 15 counts of harassment.

The charges related to him asking young people if he could touch their muscles.

He also requested to measure them and asked them to perform squats.

Mr Arobieke successfully appealed the order, with prosecution lawyers unable to prove his behaviour was sexually motivated or had caused serious psychological harm to his victims.

Under the terms of the order Mr Arobieke was also not allowed to approach or do paid or voluntary work with any young person under 18.

He was also banned from St Helens, Warrington or Widnes without the permission of either the chief constable of Merseyside or the chief constable of Cheshire.

He could also not loiter near educational establishments, gyms or sports clubs.

Judge Bruce Macmillan, at Liverpool Crown Court, said: "No evidence has been put before us to prove that such draconian measures are necessary to protect the public from serious sexual harm."

A legal technicality means a second order of a similar nature against Mr Arobieke - who is known locally as Purple Aki - is still in force.

However, it is expected to be lifted in light of the judges' ruling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 390471.stm
 
Purple Aki again

Appears the magistrates had second thoughts..

'Muscle touching' ban overturned
A 46-year-old Liverpool man who was banned from feeling people's muscles has had the decision overturned.
Akinwale Arobieke, of Devonshire Road, Toxteth, was given the order in October but judges at Liverpool Crown Court have since branded it "draconian".

Police applied for the order when Mr Arobieke was let out on licence after being jailed for six years in 2003 on 15 counts of harassment.

The charges related to him asking young people if he could touch their muscles.

No evidence has been put before us to prove that such draconian measures are necessary

Judge Bruce Macmillan

He also requested to measure them and asked them to perform squats.

Mr Arobieke successfully appealed the order, with prosecution lawyers unable to prove his behaviour was sexually motivated or had caused serious psychological harm to his victims.

Under the terms of the order Mr Arobieke was also not allowed to approach or do paid or voluntary work with any young person under 18.

He was also banned from St Helens, Warrington or Widnes without the permission of either the chief constable of Merseyside or the chief constable of Cheshire.

He could also not loiter near educational establishments, gyms or sports clubs.

Judge Bruce Macmillan, at Liverpool Crown Court, said: "No evidence has been put before us to prove that such draconian measures are necessary to protect the public from serious sexual harm."

A legal technicality means a second order of a similar nature against Mr Arobieke - who is known locally as Purple Aki - is still in force.

However, it is expected to be lifted in light of the judges' ruling.

BBC NEWS
 
He's Baaaaaack. :eek:

Muscles man’ Aki arrested again

Jun 28 2007 by Luke Traynor, Liverpool Echo
Akinwale Arobieke

A LIVERPOOL man notorious for touching strangers’ muscles was arrested on suspicion of breaching his sexual offences prevention order.

Akinwale Arobieke, 46, was today in custody after being arrested by police.

The Toxteth man was accused of approaching a man in St George shopping centre, Preston, at noon on May 24.

He is said to have commented on the size of his biceps and then touched them without permission.

The alleged victim made a complaint to Lancashire police who referred the matter to their colleagues on Merseyside.

Arobieke was arrested at his home in Devonshire Road days after the alleged offence and was charged.

Last October Arobieke was given a sexual offences protection order to monitor his behaviour.

The ruling was overturned in February by a judge at Liverpool crown court who branded it “draconian”.

But police successfully appealed against that decision and the order remained in place.

Arobieke was arrested on sus-picion of breaching the order and was remanded in custody when he appeared before Preston magistrates on June 11.

He will next appear before magistrates in Preston on July 9.

Arobieke, who has never been convicted of a sex crime, was last year banned from St Helens, Widnes and Warrington.

He was jailed in 2003 on 15 counts of harassment and one of intimidating a witness.

He had pursued his teenage victims for 3½ years, forcing them to let him feel their biceps and making them bend over while he leaned up against their backs.

link

There was a dude who matched Aki's description right behind me In a local off licence too a couple months ago! :shock:


edited by TheQuixote: fixing link
 
JamesWhitehead said:
I speak as a man of that colour myself - he has brought shame on us all.

You're purple?! :shock:

I wonder how far Aki has gone in his crimes. I wonder if any bodies will ever turn up. Maybe he is just a local, friendly molester.
 
A further, far less amusing, purple aki video, by his "cousin" Lilac Aki...



Weird thing is, some of the comments its gathered relate stories of lilac Aki and his doings (e.g. " heard a story once that lilac aki caught two young lads in rowley park in stafford under an oak tree and made them shove acorns up each others" (Anecdote curtailed for fear of frightening horses))... And so the legend moves on for a new generation?
 
triplesod said:
JamesWhitehead said:
I speak as a man of that colour myself - he has brought shame on us all.

You're purple?! :shock:

I wonder how far Aki has gone in his crimes. I wonder if any bodies will ever turn up. Maybe he is just a local, friendly molester.

Just sounds like a molestor with a mental Illness I reckon.

People make myths out of him to scare kids and crap.
 
taking the piss out of the local nutters like that is a bit mean :(

he didn't used to dress as a moor did he? it was the bit about the purple cape on the spoof blog that made me think... there used to be this butch black guy wandered around leeds with no shirt on and dressed sort of like a moor... though my then lodger said he was some sort of fundie muslem...
 
Apologies if this has already been posted, I know there are lots of other threads about this guy on the messageboard. I grew up in the South West in the 1980s and I'm convinced the rumour that "Purple Aky" would get you did the rounds at my school even though he was doing his thing up in Liverpool.

From BBC website, Apr 28:

Man 'breached muscle-squeeze ban'
A 47-year-old man broke a ban on him approaching young men and touching their muscles, a court has heard.

Akinwale Arobieke, of Toxteth, Liverpool - known as "Purple Aki" - was jailed in 2003 for harassment.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Mr Arobieke asked a 17-year-old to show him his biceps - after a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (Sopo) was imposed.

Mr Arobieke denies approaching the boy and breaching the Sopo in June last year, two months after it was made.

The court heard Mr Arobieke had a "predilection" for approaching young men and touching or feeling their muscles.

His reputation had spread across north-west England and was considered by many to be an urban myth, the jury heard.

'Very frightened'

The prosecution said the Sopo was imposed in April last year and banned him from approaching males under the age of 18, touching their muscles and asking them to squat.

Trevor Parry Jones, prosecuting, said two months later Mr Arobieke approached a 17-year-old in the street in Birkenhead and asked to see his biceps.

When the teenager realised it was "Purple Aki", he ran away "very frightened and very shaken", Mr Parry Jones said.

Speaking from behind a curtain, the teenager said: "As I turned a corner I heard a sound behind me so I turned around and he was there.

"He said he had noticed me around the area and asked me had I been working out.

"He asked me how much I could bench (press)."

Allegation 'false'

The boy told the court that Mr Arobieke then pointed to his arms and asked to see the youngster's biceps.

The boy said: "As soon as I heard that I realised who it was. I backed away and told him I had to go.

"I felt sick and walked away as fast as I could. I went to a friend's house and looked back but he had gone."

The following month the youngster picked out Mr Arobieke in a video identity parade organised by police.

Mark Barlow, defending, told the jury that Mr Arobieke had once been convicted of the manslaughter of Gary Kelly, a distant relative of the victim, but the conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Cross-examining the teenager, Mr Barlow said: "Your allegation is a false one, borne out of connection between Gary Kelly and your family and an opportunity to get back at Mr Arobieke."

The trial continues.

And from Apr 30:

Man jailed for muscle-squeezing
A man has been jailed for 18 months for breaking a ban on approaching young men and touching their muscles.

Akinwale Arobieke, 47, formerly of Toxteth, Liverpool, and known as "Purple Aki", was given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order last year.

But two months later he approached a 17-year-old boy and tried to touch his biceps, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

The order was imposed on Arobieke after he was jailed for six years in 2003 for 16 counts of harassment.

His reputation has spread across north-west England where he is known by the nickname "Purple Aki" and is considered by many to be an urban myth, the jury was told.

Bench presses

His latest victim, now aged 18, said he was left feeling "frightened and sick" after Arobieke followed him in Birkenhead in June last year.

He asked the boy how many bench presses he could do.

The boy told the court: "He pointed to my arms and asked if he could see.

"He then lifted his hand towards my biceps and I realised who it was. I backed away and told him I had to go.

"I felt sick and walked away as fast as I could. I went to a friend's house and looked back but he had gone."

Bodybuilder Arobieke had pleaded not guilty.

It was his second breach of the order and his 72nd offence since 1980, the judge was told.


[/quote]
 
I'd never heard of 'Purple Aki' until a few years ago. I grew up in the south-east so I guess it wasn't really news down my way.

Did he actually ever do anything more sinister than ask to see young lads biceps? Seems odd that someone could enter the national conciousness purely for being a local oddball.

Surely ever town/city has a local weirdo. How did this guy's legend spread beyonf Merseyside in a pre-internet age?
 
I grew up in the South West but I had heard of Purple Acky.
 
You know you've made it when you have a wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akinwale_Arobieke

Sadly it seems he is responsible for a manslaughter. But I don't really understand the fear surrounding this character. As a 17 year old lad I would havre lamped some pervert asking me about how much I press and then wanting to touch me. Was he 7ft tall or something?
 
linesmachine said:
You know you've made it when you have a wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akinwale_Arobieke

Sadly it seems he is responsible for a manslaughter. But I don't really understand the fear surrounding this character. As a 17 year old lad I would havre lamped some pervert asking me about how much I press and then wanting to touch me. Was he 7ft tall or something?
According to that very Wikipedia entry:
... Arobieke has a highly distinctive and intimidating appearance: he is a 6 ft 5 in (200 cm) tall bodybuilder who weighs 20 stone (130 kg)

...
So, slightly larger than life.
 
Clearly I didn't read my own link with any attention! Maybe I would have been slightly less likely to lamp him than I first thought...
 
Been hearing about his exploits from Merseysiders on punk forums for donkeys years. We even had a poster claiming to be him :D
 
that poster pretending to be him was possibly onion who was in xwithdrawnx. allegedly.
 
At this year's Glastonbury someone in front of the Pyramid stage while Blur were playing had an enormous banner saying something like "Mam, Purple Aki just groped me in a portaloo". Amazing, I wish I'd taken a photo.
 
linesmachine said:
Clearly I didn't read my own link with any attention! Maybe I would have been slightly less likely to lamp him than I first thought...

Aki's a big man, fearful big. So they say... :D
 
For our American readers:

The banner says 'gripped', not 'groped'. 'Gripped' means grabbed or clutched in a purposeful way, as when a policeman grips an escaping offender.

Prison officers and court security staff are often known as 'grippers'. Dunno if this is a Scouse term but I wouldn't be surprised. :lol:
 
Prison officers and court security staff are often known as 'grippers'. Dunno if this is a Scouse term but I wouldn't be surprised. Laughing

Naw, i spent my teenagers years in the Lincoln Green area of Leeds, and getting 'gripped' was when a coppers hand lands on your shoulder. Similar usage to being nicked.
 
When I worked in northern lock-ups, to 'grip' someone meant to restrain them.
 
This sounds so sinister (from wiki):

In the late 1980s a young man named Gary Kelly was electrocuted at New Brighton railway station, allegedly whilst running away from Arobieke. Arobieke was convicted of his manslaughter, but successfully appealed the conviction on the grounds that he had not acted unlawfully by 'standing on the platform and looking into trains'

And:

During the court case, details of Arobieke's "stalker’s manual" were disclosed; a book Arobieke had compiled that was "full of details about victims' body measurements, contact numbers and families." It was alleged that Arobieke would "do research into his victim, confronting them with such details as their father's car registration number or sibling's place of education."
 
passing someone their own address or even telling them which bus they got home, or as above registration plate etc. was and possibly still is a fairly common intimidation technique in some areas.
 
There's a minor panic in my home town about Aki. Apparently he has been seen hanging around schools, and letters from the police have gone out to parents. :lol:

A mate rang me to 'warn' me, swearing that her friend's school'd had both the police in to assembly to warn the kids AND the letter home.
I told her that while Aki does exist, he is currently a guest of Her Majesty, as a quick google would confirm for her.

There's even a Facebook page about Aki lurking in the area. :roll:
 
What weirds me out, is that I live in the Warwickshire, in the Midlands, and the name 'Purple Aki' rings a bell from when I was a kid. In a child molesting 'bogeyman' kind of way. 'Purple Aki will get you'. This was the 1980s.

It's weird how this one name seems to have done the rounds in school playgrounds down the years, far outside the North-West. I have to wonder how?
 
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