Another statement has been issued by former Busted members Ki Fitzgerald and Owen Doyle, the two guys kicked out of the band before they hit the big time who are now suing for a cut of royalties on some of the band's early songs and the Busted trademark. As previously reported, Fitzgerald and Doyle's legal action is against the Busted management as well as their once bandmates James Bourne and recently crowned king of the jungle Matt Willis.
Although the litigation was launched last year the defendants delayed submitting their defence statements until last week. It is in relation to those statements that the plaintiffs have issued a new press release. Fitzgerald and Doyle claim that they can prove the defendants have essentially lied in their 'statements of truth' which, they say, could possibly amount to perjury. With that in mind they have lodged a formal complaint with the police.
Here's what their statement says: "We can confirm that formal complaints and allegations have now been lodged with the police in connection with possible perjury in the current High Court Case bought against Matt Willis, James Bourne and Richard Rashman. Ki and Owen allege that Matt Willis, in particular, would appear to have attempted to pervert the course of justice in his defence and we have irrefutable evidence of fact to prove that specifics in their Statement of Truth are incorrect and wholly misleading. It will now be up to the police to determine, first as a matter of law and then as a matter of fact, whether or not there has been an attempt to pervert the course of justice in the forthcoming High Court trial".
They seemingly pick on Willis in particular because they claim he says he did not know Ki Fitzgerald before being auditioned to join Busted - but Fitzgerald claims they did know each other already because they both attended Sylvia Young School Of Drama & Acting. I'm not sure quite how relevant that is to the overall case, though the plaintiffs are keen to stress that they aren't just picking on Matt in particular because of his current newsworthiness, adding: "For anyone who might think that this has been timed to coincide with 'I'm A Celebrity', we would remind you that High Court writs were served in December 2005 and that Busted's defence was only received 11 months later, after Matt Willis had already gone into the jungle".
They also claim that all three defendants say misleading things with regard to how and when the Busted name was chosen. The defendants say the name was selected after Fitzgerald and Doyle's departure, where as Fitzgerald claims the name was his idea.
I'm not sure what to make of all this, except that this whole case should prove rather interesting once it goes to court.