Ghanaian rapper convicted of raping four women in UK

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British-Ghanaian rapper, Andy Anokye, has been found guilty of raping four women.

Andy Anokye, who performed under the stage name Solo 45 and was part of the grime collective Boy Better Know, was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of 30 charges over a two-year period.

The 33-year-old 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.

He denied the charges, although admitting he terrorized the victims during “rough sex,” BBC reports. Anokye was arrested after one of the victims reported him to the police. Authorities subsequently confiscated his mobile phones and laptops. After browsing through his devices, they were able to get in touch with three other women.

Anokye was arrested in 2017 after a woman claimed she had been raped at his waterfront apartment in Bristol.

Police seized mobile phones and a laptop and contacted other women.

During the four-month trial, jurors were shown videos filmed by Anokye on his phone.

The clips showed Anokye interrogating the women about previous sexual partners, slapping them, insulting them and raping them.

One woman was seen crying and saying “I hate you”, with the musician laughing and making a thumbs-up sign to the camera.

Anokye admitted in court that he would “humiliate” and “degrade” the women – but insisted the sex was consensual.

But the jury of seven men and five women found him guilty of 30 of the 31 charges he was facing. He was acquitted of one charge of rape.

Prosecutor Christopher Quinlan QC told the jury: “Not one of the women from whom you have heard said that they consented to what he says is a game – the rape game.

“They marked a boundary and he trashed it because he doesn’t recognise boundaries, either for himself or others.”

The jury also heard how police found searches for “dacryphilia” on Anokye’s digital devices, which is sexual arousal from tears.

The court heard from four victims, who described the use of weapons, holding them against their will, holding a cloth with bleach on to their face and waterboarding them.

Jill MacNamara, of the Crown Prosecution Service, described Anokye as a “violent, controlling narcissist and bully who took pleasure in inflicting pain and suffering upon his victims”.

The musician, wearing a blue tracksuit, did not react as the jury returned the verdicts after deliberating for almost 11 hours.

Sentencing was adjourned by Judge William Hart, who told the jury: “You have had to listen to and indeed watch some extremely graphic evidence and make very important decisions in the lives of all those concerned.

“I am very grateful to you. It is finally over.”

Speaking after the case, 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.”

Source: Daily Mail GH with additional files from SkyNews