Inside brutal rise and fall of notorious ‘King of the Hill’ gangster who terrorised city in ‘Hillbillies’ crew
THE brutal rise and fall of a notorious gangster known as “King of the Hill” who left a town living in fear has been revealed.
Stephen Akinyemi – known as “Aki” – is said to have brought terror to Manchester streets before being killed at the home of a businessman.
Mystery still surrounds the death of the suspected gangster from the Cheetham Hill district 12 years on from an inquest’s open verdict.
The man known as “Aki” has been described as a “trusted lieutenant” in Manchester’s notorious “Cheetham Hillbillies” gang.
He drove a silver Porsche with a personalised number plate “AKI” and was a familiar face in the city’s bars and nightclubs, the MEN reported.
His mob, also known as the “Cheetham Hill Gang”, are said to have sprung up in the 1980s, carrying out armed robberies before moving into drug-dealing.
Akinyemi became police‘s chief suspect for the murder of 34-year-old Chinada Iheagwara who was shot dead at a house in Crumpsall, Greater Manchester, in February 2002.
Iheagwara had previously been jailed for 20 years for his role in an machete attack on a currency depot security guard in Oldham in April 1989, serving half his sentence.
Akinyemi was reportedly viewed as an “elder statesman” among Manchester gangland figures.
He managed to escape prosecution for other offences he was suspected of.
These included the alleged rape in January 2010 of a woman who says her drink was spiked during a night out at a bar in Stockport.
Akinyemi was alleged to have driven the “disoriented” victim back to his apartment then raped her at knifepoint, before warning her: “If this gets out, I’ll have you.”
The following month he died at a millionaire businessman’s converted chapel mansion in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Akinyemi, 44, was wearing body armour and a stab-proof vest when he turned up at Arran Coghlan’s home.
Coghlan was charged with murder after calling police who found Akinyemi dead with shooting and stab wounds on February 9 2010.
‘THIS WAS NO HERO’
Tributes were paid at the time on a Facebook page set up in his memory, including “True Bad Man. RIP bro. Never forgotten” and “RIP King of the Hill”.
Coghlan insisted he acted in self-defence in a tussle after Akinyemi aimed a a gun at him and charges were dropped in July that year.
An inquest the following February at Warrington Coroner’s Court delivered an open verdict.
A second inquest was held in 2017 where the coroner gave a narrative verdict, ruling Mr Coghlan had been “acting reasonably to defend himself”.
It was suggested Mr Coghlan was trying to act as a peacemaker in a roq between Akinyemi and a third man Philip Atkinson, over who had the right to use the nickname “Aki”.
Akinyemi ran his own security firm and studied various martial arts.
Two years before his death killing, Coghlan was stabbed in the neck and shoulder at Cobden’s bar in Stockport during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Akinyemi was running the venue’s security at the time.
At the 2017 inquest his brother John Akinyemi said he had never asked “Aki” about the details and knew nothing about the incident.
He also denied suggestions Akinyemi was a violent man, insisting he never saw his brother go beyond six on a temper scale of one to 10.
When asked at the inquest whether his brother belonged to the Cheetham Hill Gang, John Akinyemi said: “He lived in Cheetham.
“He knew a lot of people but he kept his own company. When you walk alone, that’s not a gang, is it?”
But someone who knew Akinyemi told the MEN: “He was evil. They are painting him to be some kind of angel on Facebook and it’s absolutely disgraceful.
“He was very dangerous. This was no hero. He was a bully. People were so frightened of him that no one would speak out against him.
“Cheetham Hill is a better place, a safer place, now he is dead.”