A grime artist who held four women against their will and repeatedly raped them will have his sentence reviewed by the Court of Appeal.

Andy Anokye, 33, who performed under the stage name Solo 45, was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of 30 charges relating to a two-year period.

These were 21 rapes, five counts of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration and two of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was handed a 29-year extended sentence, made up of a 24-year jail term and an extended licence period of five years, in July last year.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme and it will be considered by senior judges on Friday.

Lawyers representing the AGO will argue that Anokye should have either been given a life sentence or that his jail term should have been longer.

The court will also hear an appeal by Anokye against the length of his sentence.

The musician, who was part of the grime collective Boy Better Know, derived sexual pleasure from torturing the women by water-boarding, interrogating, assaulting and raping them, the court heard.

He claimed the acts were part of consensual role play, or a game he played called “Catch me, Rape me”, and said he told women he would “terrorise” them.

Police began investigating Anokye, who is from London but had a harbourside apartment in Bristol, in 2017 after a woman complained she had been raped by him.

After his arrest, officers discovered harrowing footage filmed by Anokye on his mobile phone that revealed he had abused multiple women.

Judge William Hart, passing sentence in July, said Anokye had “become addicted” to the “perverted pleasure” he took from abusing the women in the case.

The judge added: “You have a background that includes gang associations and criminal violence.

“I’m entirely satisfied that your career as a music artist was flourishing at the time of this offending and that you would have gone to great heights.

“You were part of a well-known collective – Boy Better Know. The fellow artists from that collective have achieved great success.”

The judge said none of those fellow artists were aware of Anokye’s behaviour, or “dark side”.

“They are in no way tarnished by your misdeeds which you carried out in a private way,” the judge told Anokye.

“Your convictions have deprived you of that career but the fault is yours alone.”

An image of a shotgun shown in the court case (Avon and Somerset Police/PA)
An image of a shotgun was shown during the court case (Avon and Somerset Police/PA)

During the trial, the graphic video clips filmed by Anokye were played to the jury.

They showed Anokye interrogating the women about previous sexual partners, slapping them, insulting them and raping them.

Anokye, who was signed to Island Records and had collaborated with Stormzy, JME and Wiley, was described as a “violent, controlling narcissist and a bully” by prosecutors during the case.

The trial heard he forced one woman to lie in a bath of freezing cold water, held a shotgun to the head of another woman, and made one sit with a bottle of water tied to her finger with a shoelace.

His abuse included holding a cloth covered in bleach to women’s faces, with one woman telling jurors he had forced a mobile phone down her throat.

Giving evidence, Anokye told the court he had dacryphilia – sexual arousal from tears.

Following Anokye’s arrest, police examined videos and images on three mobile phones, an external hard drive and a laptop found at his apartment in Bristol.

They contacted further women and three came forward with complaints of abuse at his hands.

A fifth woman also gave evidence against Anokye during the trial, but jurors heard he could not be charged with alleged offences against her as they took place abroad.

The Court of Appeal hearing will start at 10am on Friday.