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Legal
AC/DC drummer has drugs conviction overturned
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 1 April 2011
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has had a conviction for marijuana possession in New Zealand overturned on the grounds that it would stop him from being able to tour with the band.
As previously reported, Rudd was convicted in December last year after police found 25 grams of the drug on his boat back in October. Rudd pleaded guilty to the charge and requested that, in return, the court not give him a criminal record in relation to the incident because of the effect it would have on his career. It was an ambitious plea really, and the judge at the time was having none of it.
However, at an appeal hearing this week, Rudd’s lawyer Craig Tuck argued that the consequences of the conviction were far greater than the gravity of the crime. The drugs conviction would mean that he would be unable to tour in Japan, Canada or the US. According to the New Zealand Herald News, Tuck said: “My client may be 56 but he is as motivated to be involved in the industry as he ever was … I ask you to allow him to continue his stellar career”.
The judge on this occasion agreed, granting the appeal but ordering Rudd to pay NZ$1500 to cover the prosecution’s costs.
