Akinwale Arobieke, better known as “Purple Aki,” the Liverpool bodybuilder notorious for a series of harassment cases involving men’s muscles, has died aged 64.
Merseyside Police confirmed that officers were called at around 8.30pm on Tuesday to a property on Devonshire Road, near Princes Park, following reports that a man in his 60s had been found unresponsive. Emergency services pronounced him dead at the scene. His death is not being treated as suspicious and a file has been sent to the Liverpool and Wirral coroner.
“Purple Aki” rose to national notoriety in the early 2000s. In 2003, he was jailed for six years after being convicted of harassing 15 men. Police later secured a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) banning him from touching men’s muscles or entering gyms.
In 2015, he was convicted of breaching the SOPO after touching a man’s muscles on a train from Manchester to North Wales. A year later, he successfully appealed against the ban, representing himself in court, and the 10-year restriction was lifted.
In 2022, Arobieke secured a substantial settlement from Greater Manchester Police after suing the Chief Constable for malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office, alleging that two officers had targeted him.
Despite his convictions, Arobieke claimed he had been the victim of a “modern-day witch hunt” by police after he filed complaints against officers.