A United Kingdom court has sentenced 19-year-old Nigerian student Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola and another man, Richile Vangu, to a combined 18 years in prison for their roles in a violent robbery and blackmail operation in which victims were threatened, assaulted, humiliated and filmed for social media.
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Akinrinola, of Slippers Place in Southwark, London, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Monday, while 20-year-old Vangu, of Bowes Road in Southgate, London, received an 11-year prison term with an additional three-year extended licence period.
The pair were convicted on June 19, 2026, following a trial arising from incidents at an open party in North Kilworth, Leicestershire, and student accommodation in Bath Lane, Leicester, on November 21, 2025.
The court heard that the party had been advertised on Snapchat and attended by several young people before Vangu, who was known on TikTok as “Trixta,” began threatening guests with a knife and demanding designer clothes and money.
Prosecutors said at least eight men were forced into a bedroom, where they were threatened while their belongings were taken. Some victims were ordered to transfer £1,000 each, with threats that they would be stabbed if they refused.
The victims were also forced to dance while being recorded for TikTok, as part of what the court described as a deliberate effort to humiliate and exercise control over them.
Some of those unable to make the demanded payments were later instructed to report to an address in Bath Lane, Leicester. At the property, they were subjected to further assaults and degrading treatment.
The prosecution said Vangu fired a BB gun at some of the victims, repeatedly whipped one of them with a belt and threatened to cut off their dreadlocks. Some victims also allegedly had their faces waxed against their will.
Akinrinola was accused of ordering victims to perform physical exercises, including star jumps and high knees, before repeatedly punching some of them.
The assaults were recorded on mobile phones and some of the videos were uploaded to social media. Investigators later relied heavily on the footage to identify those involved and establish what occurred.
Judge Steven Evans described the treatment of the victims as torture and humiliation, saying Vangu displayed a complete lack of empathy.
The judge found that Vangu planned the robbery and recruited others to assist him. Although Akinrinola was described as occupying a subordinate position in relation to Vangu, the court held that he nevertheless played an essential role in the offences.
Vangu was arrested at an address in London on November 27, 2025, after investigators identified him through his social-media presence. Further enquiries led to the identification and arrest of Akinrinola and two other suspects between December 3 and 15.
Following the trial, Vangu was convicted of four counts of robbery, 10 counts of blackmail and one count of causing actual bodily harm. He had earlier pleaded guilty to another count of actual bodily harm involving a separate victim.
Akinrinola was convicted of nine counts of blackmail, four counts of robbery and two counts of causing actual bodily harm. He was acquitted of one additional blackmail charge.
Two other men charged in connection with the incidents—Benjamin Osadolor, 19, of Northampton, and Ayomide Ibraheem, 19, of London—were found not guilty of all the charges against them.
Commenting on the case, investigating officer Detective Constable Adam Battley said Vangu was the ringleader and appeared to believe he was above the law.
Battley said the decision to record and upload videos of the crimes ultimately provided investigators with important evidence that helped secure the convictions.
Before Akinrinola was sentenced, his parents, Aderinkola and Olayinka Akinrinola, appealed to British authorities to review the conviction, maintaining that their son had been wrongly convicted largely because of his association with Vangu.
The parents said Akinrinola met Vangu after gaining admission to the University of Leicester in September 2025 and described their relationship as that of acquaintances rather than close associates.
They acknowledged that their son attended the North Kilworth party but denied that he participated in the robbery, assaulted the victims or benefited from any stolen property.
The family also claimed that no stolen items were recovered from Akinrinola’s residence, no money transferred by the victims entered his bank account and available CCTV footage merely showed him arriving at the party venue.
They further maintained that some victims did not identify Akinrinola as one of those who robbed them, while one victim allegedly described him as attempting to assist those affected.
Despite the family’s protestations, the jury convicted Akinrinola of the robbery, blackmail and assault charges, and the court subsequently imposed the seven-year custodial sentence for his role in the offences.
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