Arobieke jumped out of the bushes, grabbed me and said he wanted to measure my muscles

How notorious city bodybuilder 'harassed' teenage boy 30 years ago

- By BEN HASLAM

“I COULDN'T do anything about it, he seemed to know where I was all the time. Whenever we phoned the police they would just say he hasn’t broken any laws and they can’t do anything.”

This is how John Youssef describes the six-month campaign of harassment he says he suffered at the hands of Akinwale Arobieke in 1993, at the age of 15. Mr Arobieke was at that time in his early 30s.

Speaking to the ECHO after the news that Mr Arobieke was found dead in his flat in Toxteth, John, a competitive bodybuilder, opened up on his experiences as a teen. Describing the first time he bumped in to Mr Arobieke, he said: “I lived in Formby and I went into Liverpool to buy some protein powder from the Weider Shop, so I went with one of my friends, and when we were crossing the road Arobieke actually bumped into me.

“I didn’t know who he was, out of politeness I said ‘sorry mate’ and then he said he recognised me. He asked me what gym do I train at, at the time I was training at a gym in Knowsley, Terry Phillips’ gym, so I told him and he said that’s where he trained and he took the conversation further.”

The conversation progressed, with Mr Arobieke telling John he would be able to get him a discount in the shop he was walking into. John said he then took him to another shop after claiming the person he knew who worked there wasn’t on shift.

He produced the same excuse at the second store they visited before Mr Arobieke asked John and his friend, who wasn’t a gym-goer, to go with him into Liverpool Crown Court to watch a murder trial.

When they said no, John says Mr Arobieke accused the teenagers of being racists, intimidating them both into entering the building with the 6ft 5in bodybuilder. But rather than a courtroom, John said they were taken into a small windowless room.

This is where Mr Arobieke told John to remove his shirt, John claimed.