AC/DC drummer hit with NZ cannabis conviction - report
- From: AFP
- December 01, 2010
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was convicted of cannabis possession in New Zealand Wednesday, in a decision his lawyers said could hamper the rocker's globe-trotting tour schedule, reports said.
Rudd did not contest charges that police found 27 grams (0.95 ounces) of cannabis on his boat at Tauranga on the North Island, the local sunlive.co.nz news website reported.
It said lawyers for Rudd, who was convicted under his legal name Phillip Witschke, asked the Tauranga District Court to discharge the charge as the "low level" offence could hinder his international travel with the heavy metal band.
Pointing out that Rudd had no previous drug convictions, his lawyer Craig Tuck said the drummer had travelled to at least 20 countries with the veteran rockers over the past nine months.
"He travels extensively around the globe, across the planet, and on the basis of such criminality, which is low level offending, he is being targeted," Tuck told the court.
Magistrate Robyn Paterson refused the request, saying Rudd should have known the potential impact a drug conviction could have on his career.
"It was not just an accident. You were blindly ignoring the law. You have been playing Russian roulette," she said.
He was convicted and fined $NZ250 dollars ($193).
AC/DC, one of the world top-selling rock acts, won a Grammy this year for best hard rock performance.
