Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was arrested again in New Zealand over the weekend on charges of breaching his home detention sentence conditions following a prior arrest for threatening to kill a former employee.
Rudd, 61, a longtime on-and-off drummer for the Australian hard rock band, was arrested at his New Zealand home on Saturday on charges of allegedly possessing and consuming alcohol in defiance of his house arrest terms, although specific details have
not yet been released, according to The Associated Press. On Monday, Rudd was released on bail.
On July 9, Rudd was convicted and sentenced to eight months of house arrest for possessing methamphetamine and cannabis, as well as for threatening to kill an unnamed former employee who was
allegedly his personal assistant, according to CNN. Rudd reportedly threatened the employee’s life after the release of his solo album, “Head Job,” was a flop. He reportedly called an associate and said that he wanted the assistant to be “taken out,” before calling the assistant himself and saying, “I’m going to come over and kill you.”
The conditions for Rudd’s home detention included a ban on consuming non-prescription drugs and close monitoring of his activities, according to CNN. Rudd had been warned by his judge that any violation of those terms would result in imprisonment.
“I stone cold guarantee that's where you'll end up,” said Judge Thomas Ingram, according to CNN. “The temptations of the rock star lifestyle have caused your downfall here.”
Rudd had previously admitted to the court that he had offered cash, a house, and vehicles to one of his associates after asking for his former employee to be “taken out,” according to the AP. After his sentencing, prosecutor Anna Pollett recommended that Rudd be required to undergo drug and alcohol testing as a condition for his house arrest whenever the police requested it, according to the AP. The request was granted, and police later found drugs in various parts of Rudd’s home and in his own pockets while searching his house.
AC/DC is currently using Welsh drummer Chris Slade to perform in its “Rock or Bust” album tour, and it is not immediately known if Rudd will ever play with his former band again.
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