Murder charges against Arran Coghlan dropped

chapel-brook-lane

Alderley Edge businessman Arran Coghlan has had murder charges against him dropped for the third time after appearing at Liverpool Crown Court today.

Having pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in respect of the death of Stephen Akinyemi, Arran Coghlan will now be released from prison after the Crown Prosecution Service(CPS) dropped a charge of murder because they were unable to prove that the defendant had not acted in self defence.

Police Officers were called following a disturbance at Mr Coghlan's home on 9th February 2010 where they found the body of Stephen Akinyemi, 44, in the bathroom of the converted chapel on Brook Lane. A post mortem revealed that Mr Akinyemi had died of a gun shot wound and Mr Coghlan, who had dialled 999 himself, was charged with the murder on 13th February 2010.

Mr Coglan, dubbed 'Teflon Don' initially received hospital treatment for knife wounds to his upper body and has remained in prison on remand since February. The two men are believed to have been known to each other and Stephen 'Aki' Akinyemi, who was also known to police, was allegedly a founder member of the Cheetham Hill gang.

A statement released by the Crown Prosecution Service today said "The decision to charge Mr Coghlan was made on the evidence available at the time and it was expected that further evidence would be available. This further evidence, including forensic evidence, has now been received and reviewed by the CPS, which has a duty to keep cases under continuous review to ensure charges are still appropriate. In this case, having reviewed evidence not available at the time of charge, the CPS has decided there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction against Mr Coghlan and has today offered no evidence against him on the charge of murder."

The defendant was cleared of murdering Chris Little in the mid 1990's who was shot dead at the wheel of his car in Marple. Then, along with five other men, he was accused of murdering David Barnshaw, who was found in a burnt out car in Lower Bredbury in September 1999. The case collapsed in 2003 because the police withheld information regarding another suspect.

Tags:
Arran Coghlan, Brook Lane, Crime, Murder, Stephen Akinyemi
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Lisa Reeves
Friday 30th July 2010 at 3:06 pm
According to a recent report in The Manchester Evening News Arran Coghlan has been released from Wakefield prison today and has spoken about the fight in his Brook Lane home, which resulted in the death of Stephen Akinyemi, and expressed his views on the police prosecution.

As expected this story features in all the national press today - for the latest information see http://bit.ly/aqeTDB.