Arran Coghlan, 39,guarded by armed police in hospital while being treated for knife wounds.His business associate Stephen ‘Aki’ Akinyemi, 36, was found stabbed to death in his bathroom following an alleged row.Yesterday, officers were searching Coghlan's £2million converted chapel in Alderley Edge, Cheshire – known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’ where Premiership footballers rub shoulders with soap stars.
Members of his family have been taken into protective custody.Police said yesterday: ‘A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is receiving hospital treatment.’Akinyemi, from Cheetham Hill, Manchester, suffered fatal knife wounds despite wearing a stab proof vest.Coghlan, dialled 999 as Akinyemi lay dying, suffered serious knife injuries to his upper body.The call, made at 2pm on Tuesday, occurred after father of one Coghlan - who survived an attempt on his life in a bar on New Years Day 2009 - was suspected by police of building a multi-million pound crime empire.In 1996 he was acquitted of the gangland murder of drug baron Chris Little dubbed the Devil Dog Mobster because he set rottweilers on rivals.
Little, 32, was shot dead at the wheel of his Mercedes.Coghland was cleared .In 2002 Coghlan stood trial accused of murder again after claims he kidnapped and burnt to death petty drug dealer David Barnshaw, 32, in the boot of a car in September 1999.
Jurors were told that Coghlan – who has a bed shaped like a pirate ship – had ‘built an empire through ruthless violence, demanding respect and loyalty from all those who worked for him.’ The case against him and others collapsed when it was revealed police had failed to pass on important information about another possible suspect.
Coghlan, nicknamed ‘Az’ on the registration plate of his Bentley Turbo, has always denied any involvement in wrongdoing and claimed detectives were involved in a ‘campaign to get him at all costs’.
He is now suing the Greater Manchester force after it emerged a disgraced senior detective had withheld vital evidence from a file which linked the second of the murders to another suspect.
Despite his alleged underhand connections, many neighbours thought he was an accountant. Residents of Alderley Edge include Manchester City star Carlos Tevez, cricketer Freddie Flintoff and Coronation Street actress Samia Ghadie.
On New Year’s Day 2009, Coghlan was stabbed in the head face and back as he partied with friends at Cobdens bar in his native Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The knifeman was never traced but police suspect the attack was linked to mobsters from the Cheetham Hill gang.