Victims described how Andy Anokye beat, threatened and even waterboarded them

This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

The grime artist Andy Anokye, who performs as Solo 45, has been found guilty of subjecting four women to a horrifying campaign of rape.

Anokye’s victims described how he beat them, threatened them with weapons, held them against their will and even waterboarded them.

The 33-year-old artist, who was part of the collective Boy Better Know, admitted in court that he liked to “terrorise” women but insisted that they always consented to his “rape game”.

Anokye was found guilty at Bristol crown court of 30 charges relating to a two-year period. He was unanimously convicted of 21 rapes, five counts of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration, and two of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

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Judge William Hart adjourned sentencing for a date to be fixed and ordered a psychiatric report on the defendant.

Christopher Quinlan QC, prosecuting, told the jury at Bristol crown court in his closing speech that Anokye was “a narcissist and a violent bully”. “Not one of the women from whom you have heard said that they consented to what he says is a game – the ‘rape game’,” Quinlan said. “They marked a boundary and he trashed it because he doesn’t recognise boundaries, either for himself or others.”

Quinlan said there were striking similarities in the accounts given by the women, who did not know each other. These included the use of weapons, being held against their will, having cloth with bleach applied forcibly to their face, and waterboarding. Anokye filmed much of the abuse on his mobile phone.

Sally O’Neill, defending, told jurors the videos they had watched of the abuse showed “rough, sometimes unpleasant but importantly, consensual sexual activity” between Anokye and the four women.

She described the four as “independent, adult women” who were operating on a “level playing field” with Anokye, who is from London but had a flat in Bristol.

Anokye, who grew up in Tottenham, north London, was arrested in 2017 after a woman claimed she had been raped at his waterfront apartment in Bristol.

Following his arrest, police examined videos and images on his digital devices and contacted further women. Anokye denied 31 charges relating to the four complainants and told the jury he would not have risked his career by raping women.

Judge William Hart sent the jury of seven men and five women out to consider their verdicts in the case on Monday morning.

Speaking after the case, DCI 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.”