AN infamous bodybuilder dubbed “muscle squeezer” has died at the age of 64.
Akinwale Arobieke was found dead at his flat on Devonshire Road in Toxteth, Merseyside.
Officers discovered his body at around 8.30pm on Tuesday, August 26, after reports of an unresponsive man.
Merseyside Police confirmed his death is not thought to be suspicious.
A spokesperson for the force said: “We can confirm that emergency services were in the Toxteth area following a non-suspicious death last night, Tuesday 26 August.
“At around 8.30pm, officers were made aware of a man in his 60s being found unresponsive at an address in 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.”
Arobieke became known for approaching young rugby players and asked permission to touch their muscles.
He also tried to get them to pose for him and offered exercise advice.
In the north west of England in the 1990s Purple Aki became an urban legend, with teenagers sharing stories of a man who had ask to feel their muscles.
Arobieke was often seen travelling between northern train stations with his signature plastic bag, becoming the butt of a joke across Liverpool, Manchester and North Wales.
He would occasionally resurface in local newspapers after various encounters with the law.
In 1986, 16-year-old Gary Kelly noticed he was being followed by a muscular, six-foot-five man, who was said to have waited outside his school and asked if he could touch his muscles.
On June 15 the same year, Gary and his friends were at New Brighton’s outdoor swimming pool when Arobieke was spotted following the teenager again.
Gary reportedly ran to New Brighton train station and tried hiding in a stationary train before he jumped to the railway tracks as Arobieke watched from the platform.
The teen touched the third rail and was electrocuted by 750 volts.
He was sadly pronounced dead and Arobieke was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and indecent assault and harassment of 14 different boys.
A judge sentenced him to 30 months in prison.
Arobieke appealed against his conviction, won, and was awarded £35,000.
However, it was clear that Arobieke’s obsession was beyond control and after being released in 2003, he was arrested for 15 charges of harassment and witness intimidation and sentenced to six years in prison.
Less than seven months after the touching ban, Arobieke commented on a man’s biceps, touching them without permission, and was arrested for the breach of his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). He was jailed for 15 months.
He was banned from touching, feeling and measuring muscles, and also from asking strangers to perform squats for him from 2006.
Then in 2010, Arobieke was arrested and sentenced to two and a half years for touching a 16-year-old boy’s muscles, as the judge referred to him as a “sexual predator”, yet Aki maintained that he had been set up.
Arobieke was arrested again in 2015, charged with harassing a young man on a train from Manchester.
Whilst Arobieke was found guilty of the breach, he maintained that he had again been falsely accused as a result of his reputation, as more reports began to pour in.
The SHPO was finally lifted in April 2016 when psychologists determined that Arobieke’s obsession with touching muscles was not sexually motivated.
Akinwale Arobieke has died aged 64Rex Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
