A grime artist convicted of repeatedly raping four women has had his jail sentence increased on appeal.
In July, Andy Anokye who performed as Solo 45 was handed a 24-year jail term with a licence extension of five years.
The Attorney General’s Office referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentencing scheme.
The Court of Appeal ruled his sentence should be increased to 30 years and a licence extension of five years.
Truly shocking
After the hearing, the solicitor general, Michael Ellis, said: “Anokye’s crimes were truly shocking.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision to increase his sentence recognises the severity of the abuse he inflicted upon his victims and the danger he poses to the public.”
Lady Justice Macur, sitting with two other judges, said the original sentence did not reflect the fact Anokye committed multiple offences of rape against four separate victims.
The court rejected an argument by lawyers representing the Solicitor General that Anokye should have been given a life sentence.
The judge also refused a bid by Anokye to appeal against the length of his original sentence.
In March Anokye was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of 30 offences over a two-year period.
These were 21 rapes, five counts of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration and two of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was sentenced on 30 July.
During the trial jurors heard the musician, who was part of the grime collective Boy Better Know, derived sexual pleasure from torturing the women by water-boarding, interrogating, assaulting and raping them.
He claimed the acts were part of consensual role play, or a game he played called “Catch me, Rape me”, and said he told women he would “terrorise” them.
Police began investigating Anokye, who is from London but had a harbourside apartment in Bristol, in 2017 after a woman complained she had been raped by him.
bbc
