Sinister life of notorious ‘modern-day bogeyman’ Akinwale Arobieke who stalked streets grabbing teen boy’s muscles

IN 1968, a teenage boy was followed by a 6ft 5in man who waited outside his school and bizarrely asked to touch his muscles.

This strange encounter was just the beginning of Akinwale Arobieke’s notoriety.

LNPAkinwale Arobieke at Manchester Crown Court in 2013, having been cleared of breaching a ban on touching men’s muscles[/caption]

PAAkinwale Arobieke, who became an “urban myth” after he was banned from touching people’s muscles, has died[/caption]

The bodybuilder was “obsessed” with feeling biceps and was later banned from touching men’s muscles and going to gyms.

He went on to become an urban myth in the 80s and 90s, and despite claiming to want a low profile, his fame endured.

People would even stop him on the street, asking for a selfie with the famous “muscle squeezer”.

But the “modern day bogeyman” met a tragic end at the age of 64, found dead inside his flat in Toxteth, Merseyside, on August 26.

Merseyside Police confirmed his death is not thought to be suspicious.

Arobieke spent years of his life behind bars, but he insisted he was the victim of a “witch hunt”.

He was born on July 15, 1961. But when he was six-months-old, he was put into care and spent time in a children’s home in Llandudno, Wales.

In a 2016 documentary titled The Man Who Squeezes Muscles, the BBC claimed he struggled to hold down a job as an adult – instead racking up a string of convictions and swirling rumours.

It was said Arobieke was quiet and barely drew attention to himself – unless he wanted to feel your muscles.

THE DEATH OF GARY KELLY

Those in the North West would often gossip about a bizarre man who had approached young men asking to feel their muscles – and many assumed he was just an urban myth.

But in 1986, 16-year-old Gary Kelly was celebrating his O-Levels when Arobieke approached him.

A court heard that the bodybuilder stalked and threatened to kill the boy.

The teen became terrified in the final four months of his life.

Gary and his friends were at New Brighton’s outdoor swimming pool on June 15 when Arobieke was spotted following the teenager again.

The boy 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 a live rail and was electrocuted by 750 volts.

His girlfriend was tragically three months pregnant with his child, Jamielee, at the time.

Arobieke was locked up, sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for manslaughter.

But this conviction was later overturned following an appeal.

HIS ‘STALKER’S MANUAL’

Around ten years later, the Sunday People ran a story on a “giant” who was reportedly stalking rugby Super League stars.

The piece alleged that 12 clubs had been chillingly warned about Arobieke.

It claimed he attacked players’ homes and vandalised their cars, even pretending to be a journalist to access sports grounds.

The article read: “Top Rugby League clubs were last night on full security alert after a giant stalker launched a campaign against young players.

“Strapping stars at Warrington Wolves and Oldham Bears are living in fear of 6ft 5in bodybuilder Akinwale Arobieke.”

It quoted a chairman John Smith as saying “This man’s a menace. He has an astonishing ability to get hold of players’ addresses and phone numbers and they just don’t feel safe.”

A court heard he had a “stalker’s manual” in which he noted down victims’ contact information and personal details.

This was alongside notes on their body part measurements.

AlamyThe bodybuilder was found dead in his flat in Merseyside[/caption]

OPERATION ICE

Merseyside Police eventually launched an investigation into the bodybuilder, named Operation Ice.

The force interviewed 123 people from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to South Wales, although much of the inquiry focused on the North West.

He reportedly approached young men at gyms, sports clubs and colleges and “ask to feel their muscles”.

He would “ask young men to stand with their arms extended in a ‘scarecrow’ position, and then lift them from behind”, a BBC article alleged.

“He would also use a tape measure to measure their calves, thighs and chest.”

Arobieke was charged in 2001 with 50 counts of indecent assault and harassment against 14 teenage boys between 1995 and 2000.

He pleaded not guilty, but was later convicted over an unrelated matter of making threats to kill, after an incident which caused a couple to move from their home. He spent 30 months in jail.

Arobieke was imprisoned for a further six years following his guilty pleas to 15 counts of harassment and one count of witness harassment in 2003.

Judge Edward Slinger said at the time: “Your behaviour is both strange and obsessive.”

BANNED FROM TOUCHING MUSCLES

On his release in 2006, Arobieke was handed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) which banned him from specific activities.

The court order banned him from touching, measuring or feeling muscles and asking people to do squat exercises in public.

He was also banned from feeling muscles in private without consent and loitering around or going into gyms and sports clubs.

The order demanded he not talk to anyone under 18 on purpose or enter a school or university without permission.

He was jailed for breaching the order before magistrates made the order indefinite in 2008.

Arobieke later received jail sentences in 2009 and 2010 for breaching the order.

But he was never actually convicted of committing a sexual offence.

In August 2013, he was cleared of breaching his SOPO again by squeezing muscles in Manchester city centre, Bolton and Trafford.

AlamyHe was cleared of breaching his SOPO again by squeezing muscles in Manchester city centre[/caption]

‘UNUSUAL’ INTEREST IN MUSCLES

Arobieke told a court he had an “unusual interest in muscles” and the “potential of young men to improve their physique”.

But he has always denied his behaviour was sexually motivated.

When he was jailed in 2001, Arobieke accepted his behaviour could cause fear, but he told the court that he believed he had a genuine friendship with the young men whom he approached.

Arobieke insisted he was the victim of a modern-day “witch hunt” by the police.

He once commented that his bizarre fascination meant the public saw him as “infamous, notorious, everything from the bogeyman to whatever”.

The bodybuilder said he wanted his profile to be low-key, and his reputation was the problem rather than him as a person.

Akinwale Arobieke arrives at Manchester Crown Court in 2013Rex

COURTROOM VICTORY

In 2015, Arobieke – representing himself – battled his ban on touching men’s muscles and it was lifted.

Judge Mansell said he was first given the case to deal with “because he was one of the few” who hadn’t heard of the infamous bodybuilder.

Arobieke vowed to reinvent himself for a “fresh start”.

Judge Mansell QC, sitting at Manchester Crown Court, said the order was no longer justified.

He believed that if the ban was lifted, the gym lover could channel his unusual interests though an “appropriate venue” such as a gym or a bodybuilding events.

The judge said: “I’m not into bodybuilding myself, but I’d have thought men who have muscles in their arms the diameter of my leg are the sort of men who will admire each other’s bodies.

“They don’t build the body up to hide it under loose-fitting sweatshirts. They are men likely to talk to and weigh and measure each other.”

The bodybuilder promised the judge he wouldn’t “let him down” after being given a fresh start.

Arobieke was found dead at his flat in Toxteth, Merseyside this year.

Officers discovered his body at around 8.30pm on Tuesday, August 26, after reports of an unresponsive man.

Merseyside Police have said they do not think his death is 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 near 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.”

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