AKINWALE Arobieke, better known in the UK as “Purple Aki,” has reportedly been found dead at his home in Toxteth, Liverpool.
The 64-year-old British-Nigerian bodybuilder was discovered unresponsive at his residence on Devonshire Road around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 26, according to reports.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and authorities confirmed that his death is not being treated as suspicious.
“We can confirm that emergency services were in the Toxteth area following a non-suspicious death last night, August 26.
“At around 8:30 p.m., officers were made aware of a man in his 60s who was found unresponsive at an address on Devonshire Road, Princes Park. He was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.
“The man’s death is not suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner,” a Merseyside Police spokesperson was quoted to have said.
Born Akinwale Oluwafolajimi Oluwatope Arobieke on July 15, 1961, at Crumpsall Hospital in Lancashire, Aki was of Nigerian descent.
His mother, then a secretarial student, placed him in care at just six months old. He later spent time in a Barnardo’s home in Llandudno.
As an adult, he worked in modest jobs, including as a tunnel cleaner in the Mersey Tunnels and as a messenger for Liverpool City Council.
For decades, Arobieke remained a well-known and controversial figure in Merseyside, where he was depicted in local folklore as a “bogeyman.”
He gained notoriety in the 1990s for approaching young men and asking to touch their muscles.
In 1986, he was initially convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of 16-year-old Gary Kelly, who died after coming into contact with a live rail while attempting to flee from him.
The conviction was later overturned on appeal, and Arobieke was awarded £35,000 in compensation.
Beyond that, he was also convicted of touching and measuring the muscles of young men and asking them to squat his body weight.
In 2003, Arobieke was sentenced to six years in prison for multiple counts of harassment and witness intimidation, following incidents that spread fear among young men in the region.
Similarly, in 2006, authorities imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) on him, even though he had no sexual convictions. The order prohibited him from touching, feeling, or measuring muscles, loitering around gyms or schools, or entering specific towns such as St Helens and Warrington.
The order was lifted in May 2016.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M