UK rapper and grime artist Solo 45 has been convicted of raping four women, The Guardian reports. Andy Anokye, better known as Solo 45, was found guilty by the jury of 21 counts of rape, five counts of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration, and two counts of assault with bodily harm. Anokye had pleaded not guilty to the 31 charges previously that included 22 counts of rape.
Crown Prosecution Service's Jill MacNamara said, "We were able to prove that Anokye was a violent, controlling narcissist and bully who took pleasure in inflicting pain and suffering upon his victims... He claimed sexual activity with these women was consensual role-play and pointed to the fact that some of the women stayed in a relationship with him after the assaults. However, the CPS was able to prove none of these women had consented to the sexual activity or the violence and threats made against them."
The guilty verdict arrived after jurors watched footage of the rapes that Anokye allegedly filmed himself. Four victims provided evidence against the rapper as they also detailed the alleged assaults. One woman detailed being waterboarded while another claimed that he stabbed her in the thigh.
Anokye had reportedly admitted that he enjoyed striking fear in others, referred to as "dacryphilia,” saying that he "terrorized" his victims but denying that he had raped any of them.
At that time in my life things were going so smoothly,” he said during the trial. “Everything was working so well. I would never do anything to put my freedom on the line … Life was too sweet.”
Solo 45 was part of the grime collective Boy Better Know alongside artists like JME and Skepta who he allegedly made his victims refer to him as during the assaults.
Meek Mill Calls Execution Of Nathaniel Woods A "Lynching"
Meek Mill compared the execution of Nathaniel Woods, who was sentenced to death for the murder of three police officers in 2004, to a "lynching."
Meek Mill spoke out about the injustices faced by black men in America after a death row inmate, Nathaniel Woods, was executed in Alabama despite widespread questioning of his culpability in the murder of three police officers in 2004. Woods, alongside fellow death row inmate, Kerry Spencer, was convicted of capital murder in 2005 and was sentenced to death for shooting and killing the three Birmingham officers and wounding another. Woods was pronounced dead on Thursday night after receiving a lethal injection, despite activists protesting his death sentence and Spencer even claiming full responsibility for fatally shooting the officers and maintaining Woods innocence. The Supreme Court had put a temporary halt on the execution but lifted it within hours. Woods' attorneys petitioned Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to stay his execution, but Ivey refused.
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Meek took to Twitter to express his outrage, declaring that Woods had been "lynched" and urging white Americans to step up against racism in the justice system.
"A black man that didn’t kill nor plan to kill got lynched in 2020 in Alabama!" Meek tweeted. "As a black man how can you believe in the American justice system ..that shit gotta change and if you are white and not a racist STEP UP because you guys have majority control over the system today!!!" He followed this tweet up with a statement about the history of lynching, and further urged white people to take a stand.
"Lynching should be banned off the simple fact they used to do that to slaves!" he declared. "Facts!" he continued, "We live in WHITE America and it aint gon change til the whites help us minorities out." As a prison reform advocate, Meek has been very vocal about the pervasive issues within the justice system. He founded the REFORM Alliance, a collective committed to "dramatically reducing the number of people who are needlessly trapped in the system," after he was unjustly imprisoned for minor probation violations. Meek continues to be outspoken about the widespread injustices within the system.
Kodak Black Appeals "Harsh" Prison Sentencing
Koda Black has filed to appeal his prison sentence for lying in order to buy firearms, claiming that the judge incorrectly abided by sentencing guidelines for convicted felons.
Kodak Black is challenging his three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for lying in order to purchase firearms, as he claims that he was sentenced under the guidelines for a convicted criminal, which he technically is not. In the appeal papers filed on February 12th, Kodak has argued that the judge who ordered his sentencing made the mistake of using what he contends to be the wrong sentencing guidelines. Kodak believe that the guidelines that the judge abided by to sentence him were reserved for convicted felons; however, Kodak avoided this label when he pled “no contest” in a previous case, thus his lawyers note that these specific, harsher guidelines shouldn’t have applied to him in the sentencing for this case.
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The previous case for which Kodak pled “no contest” involved strong-arm robbery charges in Florida. Due to his plea, the courts declined to convict him, which allowed him to keep his civil rights and made him eligible to have the case sealed. Since he was never convicted in this case, then, he shouldn’t have been sentenced under the guidelines for convicts.
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His current case occurred last fall when he was charges for making a false statement in the acquisition of a firearm after he tried to purchase a semiautomatic weapon from a firearms dealer. Kodak took a plea deal and was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and three years probation. He has since spoken out about the inhumane treatment to which he and other inmates have been subjected, even alleging that he was locked in a bathroom on one occasion and drugged by guards on another.