Troubled AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was at the centre of a new police incident in New Zealand today. He was handcuffed and taken into custody after reportedly breaching bail conditions in connection with the charges of threatening to kill and drug possession, which he’ll answer at trial next year.
Eyewitnesses tell the New Zealand Herald he was involved in an altercation with a “huge man,” thought to be his former bodyguard. He was said to have then taken part in a car chase before “bloody dancing around and carrying on” in a street. After police arrived he was “led to a cop car and driven away.”
Rudd, 60, was not re-arrested but appeared before Judge Paul Geoghegan at Tauranga District Court, where the conditions of his bail were changed to reflect the incident. He’s now required to avoid consuming illegal drugs, after Crown solicitor Greg Hollister-Jones described the drummer’s behaviour as “erratic.”
Craig Tuck, the lawyer who dealt with the latest incident in place of Paul Mabey, said: “It was a meeting with somebody he wasn’t meant to associate with – it was a chance meeting and there was contact from that.”
Police refused to comment. The details of the charges against Rudd cannot be reported for legal reasons. He’ll appear in court again on February 10.
Angus Young of AC/DC – who have confirmed they’ll tour next year regardless of the drummer’s status – said this week: “Phil’s got to sort his life out. When he got behind his drumkit he’s a great drummer. Over the years, I think he’s let himself go. I’m talking away from the drumkit.”