According to Radio New Zealand, AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has paid out less than half of his required $120,000 in reparations following his recent sentencing to eight months of home detention by a New Zealand court after pleading guilty to charges of threatening to kill and drug possession.
Rudd has been meeting with a specialist psychiatrist but authorities remain concerned about his behavior. He has also reconciled with his would-be victim.
Rudd’s lawyer, Craig Tuck, argued the drummer should have been discharged without conviction and appealed against his sentence on the basis that it was “manifestly excessive.”
But High Court Justice Raynor Asher said on Tuesday (October 6) that the consequences of Rudd’s sentence were not out of proportion to the offense, explaining, “Even with the convictions, Mr. Rudd may practice as a musician in session work and in concerts in New Zealand and in other countries.”
Tuck said Rudd had so far paid $50,000 of the fine and the rest of it was “being sorted”.
“As I understand it, [the fine] is being resolved and worked through, presently, so there were a number of matters that were raised on appeal — that was one of them,” the lawyer said.
“It was to be paid by the 20th of September, and, of course, the appeal was on the basis that it would be paid.”
Rudd is seeing a court-appointed psychiatrist named Rupert Bird, who specializes in methamphetamine psychosis and who the drummer said is “helping me through my imbalances and personal issues.”
Rudd is also in a rehab program and is not allowed to have alcohol in his house, although he was arrested for a second time recently when a female guest brought alcohol to his place — a charge he’ll face in court in November.
The charge of threatening to kill was the result of him reportedly trying to hire someone to “take out” his personal assistant after Rudd was angered by the poor launch of his 2014 solo debut, “Head Job”.
Rudd called the charge a “complete crock of shit,” although he admitted, “I wasn’t handling it very well.”
Rudd’s status with AC/DC seems to be non-existent at the moment. Although he says he’s “never been fitter,” he was replaced in AC/DC back in February by Chris Slade. The band has shown no inclination for Rudd to return.
Source: Blabbermouth
