Less than 24 hours after tickets to AC/DC‘s Rock Or Bust tour were snapped up by hundreds of thousands of Australian fans, the band’s embattled drummer, Phil Rudd, has fronted a New Zealand court and pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and threatening to kill.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the 60-year-old appeared before Tauranga District Court this morning where he admitted to making a death threat against one of his former employees, and being caught with 130 grams of cannabis and 0.7g of methamphetamine – charges he had earlier plead not guilty to.
A second charge of threatening to kill was also dropped by the prosecution in court today. Judge Robert Wolffe remanded Rudd on bail, subject to existing conditions. The drummer is due to face sentencing on June 26th, with his lawyers seeking a discharge without conviction.
The so-called human metronome’s legal woes began back in November of 2014, when police raided his New Zealand home and charged him with attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill and drug possession.
“This matter was an angry phone call that resulted in police getting a search warrant, believe it or not, for possession of cannabis, own use, and a cellphone,” Rudd’s Lawyer, Craig Tuck told stuff.co.nz outside court today.
“They turned up at his home with nine police officers and a dog.”
The murder plot charge was dropped soon after Rudd’s initial arrest but, it appears, the others have stuck.
As the Herald reports, the court was told this morning that Rudd wanted his former security guard “taken out” after he became “particularly angry” following the launch of his solo album, Head Job, which did “not go well”. It’s further alleged that Rudd called an associate holidaying in Australia and asked for the security guard to be “taken care of”, before calling the would-be victim himself to make death threats.
In the wake of Rudd’s legal dramas, AC/DC have reunited with their former drummer, Chris Slade, for their forthcoming Rock Or Bust world tour.
According to News Corp, more than 300,000 tickets were snapped up by eager fans for the Australian leg of the tour within hours of them going on sale, yesterday morning. It’s prompted extra shows to be added in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Watch: AC/DC – Rock the Blues Away
