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Artist News Legal
Tom Meighan issues statement following assault conviction
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 9 July 2020
Tom Meighan has issued a response to his conviction earlier this week for assaulting his partner Vikki Ager. He also addressed a disparaging statement that was issued by his former Kasabian bandmates after the conviction.
In his statement, Meighan admits to struggling with alcohol addiction and says that he has recently been diagnosed with ADHD. “I am very sorry and deeply regret my behaviour”, he says. “In no way am I trying to condone my actions or make excuses. I am completely to blame and accept all responsibility”.
In court on Tuesday, ahead of sentencing, the judge said that police had been called to Meighan and Ager’s address on more than one occasion and that there was “evidence of previous abusive behaviour”. However, Meighan insists that the incident over which he was convicted “was an isolated one” that was “completely out of character”.
He adds that, following the attack on Ager, he has attended a rehabilitation programme for alcoholism, saying: “It’s been well documented that I’ve undergone treatment before, but in truth I’ve never actually been completely sober. This time has been different … This time I actually really want to do it, not just for those I care about, but also for myself”.
Following his conviction on Tuesday, Kasabian put out a statement condemning Meighan’s actions. They also explained that their earlier announcement, confirming Meighan had left the band, didn’t go into any details about their former bandmate’s crime because they had been led to believe he would explain the situation in his own follow-on statement.
However, he did not do this, saying only that he was “in a good place”, which some have argued misled the band’s fans about the real situation.
Acknowledging this, he says now: “I only wanted to assure everyone that I was in a good place mentally, compared to where I had been. At which point I wasn’t able to acknowledge the pending case. I would never knowingly mislead fans and appreciate them greatly”.
Meighan carried out what was described as a “sustained attack” on Ager at their home in April, only halted after a child at the house raised the alarm by calling 999. He was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work on Tuesday and told that he had narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
