Arran Coghlan hits out at coroner after shooting inquest

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A coroner yesterday said he had "difficulty" accepting a version of events given to him by an Alderley Edge businessman who has previously been cleared of three underworld killings.

Arran Coghlan, 39, was called as a witness at the inquest of Stephen "Aki" Akinyemi at Warrington Coroner's Court on Monday, 31st October.

Mr Coghlan was accused of shooting suspected gangster Akinyemi in the head during a fight at his converted chapel on Brook Lane in February last year. The Crown Prosecution Service later dropped the murder charge because it could not prove Mr Coghlan, who suffered stab wounds, was not acting in self-defence.

Yesterday, Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg recorded an open verdict, saying he had "difficulty" accepting Mr Coghlan's version of events.

Mr Coghlan told the inquest Akinyemi pulled the gun on him and that it went off during a struggle which saw him get stabbed several times.

During cross-examination, Mr Rheinberg said: "You managed to successfully defend yourself while completely unarmed against a man with a gun and ultimately wielding a knife.

"The circumstances ultimately transpired with the stronger man (Akinyemi) being shot three times. That gives me difficulty."

In a heated exchange, Mr Coghlan replied: "So you think I should have died in the process? Would that have pleased you? What else could I have done? What else should I have done?"

 

Mr Rheinberg said: "I think if you were looking at this from outside, you would be surprised at your surviving, if your account is correct."

At the end of his evidence Mr Coghlan stood up without being excused by the coroner who asked him to "be seated" and threatened to find him in contempt of court after Mr Coghlan accused the coroner of not having any "manners".

After re-taking his seat, Mr Coghlan said: "That you exerting your authority? Nice."

Mr Coghlan accused the police of having "intel" about Akinyemi's "malicious intentions". After the hearing, he said: "He (the corner) has arrived at a neutral verdict to save the blushes of the police."

Mr Coghlan said he was launching "civil proceedings" against the police and called the verdict "unacceptable".

Akinyemi was allegedly part of a Manchester drugs gang and members of Mr Coghlan's family were taken into protective custody after Akinyemi's death.

In 1996 Mr Coghlan was cleared of murdering alleged gangland "enforcer" Chris Little, who was shot dead at the wheel of his Mercedes two years earlier, and in 2001 another drug dealer, David Barnshaw, 32, was kidnapped, forced to drink petrol and burned alive in the back of a car in Stockport.

Mr Coghlan was acquitted of leading the gang which tortured and killed Barnshaw when it transpired that police failed to pass on important information about another possible suspect.

In June this year, Mr Coghlan was also cleared of a major drugs conspiracy following his arrest by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) last September. He was accused of leading a multi-million-pound cocaine smuggling ring until prosecutors decided to offer no evidence against him.

Mr Coghlan, who gave his occupation as "consultant", told the inquest he was trying to "mediate" between Akinyemi and another "friend" who also had the nickname of "Aki". He said a dispute had arisen between them and that on February 9th last year he was meeting Akinyemi with a view to "resolving it".

Akinyemi was described as a "formidable" character and accomplished in boxing and martial arts.

Mr Coghlan said that initially his partner and two-year-old daughter were in the house when he arrived with Akinyemi but they left shortly after. He said he was "concerned" about Akinyemi's behaviour and that he kept demanding Mr Coghlan call the other man - who the coroner ruled could not be named.

Mr Coghlan said Akinyemi then went to a toilet on the first floor and called for him. When he opened the door he said Akinyemi was pointing a gun at him.

He said: "I was just shocked. I said something like, 'woah, just calm down, we will work it out'." He said at that point Akinyemi punched him in the face, and he responded by punching him back.

A struggle followed in which Mr Coghlan said he put the deceased in a "headlock" and grabbed the hand in which he was holding the Beretta 9mm pistol. "It was bedlam," he said. He said Akinyemi then managed to pull out a knife with his free hand and start stabbing him in the neck, arm and chest.

He described Akinyemi as being like a "raging bull" and that during the struggle the gun went off.

The inquest heard evidence that Akinyemi, who was wearing a stab vest, was shot twice in his body armour and once, fatally, in the head. A fourth shot was also discharged which was recovered from the bathroom wall.

Mr Coghlan said he was "not aware" that Akinyemi had been shot in the head and that he did not know whether he was going to "jump back up".

Asked by the coroner why, when faced with an armed man, he did not flee, Mr Coghlan said: "I thought I could reason with him. When I saw the gun it almost didn't register. It was a shocking moment."

Mr Coghlan told the inquest that police in Greater Manchester had "intel" that Akinyemi was coming to his house with "malicious intent".

He said police could have arrested Akinyemi two weeks earlier for another offence but decided to let him go free "because they wanted to see what would happen at my house".

Howard Young, representing Mr Coghlan, urged the coroner to record a verdict of "lawful killing by reason of self-defence".

But recording an open verdict, Mr Rheinberg said: "What happened in Mr Coghlan's house is known now only to Mr Coghlan. There's no independent way of verifying the sequence of events as they occurred.

"Mr Coghlan, that's not to say that you are not telling the truth. You may have been telling the truth and you may not."

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said they had noted the verdict of the inquest and that they "do not comment on specific intelligence".

Photo: Stephen Akinyemi.

Source: Paul Keaveny, Press Association.

Tags:
Arran Coghlan, Stephen Akinyemi
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Comments

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Sarah Lane
Thursday 3rd November 2011 at 10:32 pm
The whole story is disgusting no matter what the verdict.