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Grime artist who 'got sexual pleasure from waterboarding and raping four women' jailed for 24 years

Anokye, left, was sentenced on Thursday. (PA Images/Avon and Somerset Police)
Andy Anokye was sentenced on Thursday. (PA/Avon and Somerset Police)

A “violent, controlling” grime artist convicted of holding four women against their will and repeatedly raping them has been jailed for 24 years.

Andy Anokye, 33, who performed with the stage name Solo 45, filmed himself attacking the women.

Jurors at Bristol Crown Court heard how he got sexual pleasure from water-boarding, interrogating, assaulting and raping his victims.

The musician spoke of dacryphilia – sexual arousal from tears – and enjoyed playing a game he called “catch me, rape me”.

He was found guilty at a previous hearing of 21 counts of rape, five of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration and two of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was sentenced on Thursday, when Judge William Hart also gave him an extra five years on licence.

He said Anokye had “no sexual boundaries or empathy for those concerned” and was “addicted” to “perverted pleasure”.

A general view of Bristol Crown Court
Bristol Crown Court, where Anokye was tried. (PA Images)

During Anokye’s trial, jurors saw graphic video clips filmed on his mobile in which he interrogated the women about past sexual partners, slapped them, insulted them and raped them.

One clip showed a woman crying and saying “I hate you” as Anokye laughed and made a thumbs-up gesture to the camera.

He made a woman lie in a bath of freezing cold water, held a shotgun to the head of another and made a further victim sit with a bottle of water tied to her finger with a shoelace.

Police began investigating Anokye – who was part of the grime collective Boy Better Know – in 2017.

A woman claimed she had been raped at his waterside flat in Bristol and police examined videos and photos on three mobile phones, an external hard drive and a laptop in his home.

After contacting more women, three came forward to say they were abused by him. All of the charges Anokye was convicted of took place over a two-year period.

Photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of an image of a shotgun shown in the court case of Andy Anokye. (PA Images/Avon and Somerset Police)
An image of a shotgun shown in the court case of Andy Anokye. (PA/Avon and Somerset Police)

A fifth woman gave evidence against Anokye, but jurors were told he could not be charged with the alleged offences because they took place abroad.

Less than a year before his arrest, Anokye had signed to Island Records.

His singles featured grime stars Wiley and JME and he collaborated with Stormzy on a track called 5ive in 2017.

“You were part of a well-known collective – Boy Better Know. The fellow artists from that collective have achieved great success,” the judge said, adding that none were aware of his “dark side”.

“They are in no way tarnished by your misdeeds which you carried out in a private way,” he added.

“Your convictions have deprived you of that career but the fault is yours alone.”

Anokye told jurors during his trial: “I don’t think women I get myself involved with would look at me and think ‘he’s going to make slow, sensual, candlelit love to me’.

“They were all aware of what kind of sex I was into. I would explain to them that it would involve terrorising them.

Undated handout file photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of Andy Anokye, who was convicted of holding four women against their will and repeatedly raping them, as he will be sentenced on Thursday.
Anokye was found guilty of 21 counts of rape. (PA Images/Avon and Somerset Police)

“We would do a lot of things that pushed the boundaries. I would humiliate them, degrade them, call them names.

“I’ve got my own quirks and my own kinks.”

Jill MacNamara, senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We were able to prove that Anokye was a violent, controlling narcissist and bully who took pleasure in inflicting pain and suffering upon his victims.

“He filmed many of his attacks on his mobile phone and this footage, along with the brave testimony of his victims, created a compelling case against him.”

Speaking after the guilty verdicts, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Rice of Avon and Somerset Police said: “I hope today’s verdicts bring some solace to the victims in this case who have suffered unimaginable horrors.

“Our focus will remain on supporting them as we have done for almost three years since this investigation began, and we will continue to do so through to sentencing and beyond.”