AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has lost an appeal against his home detention sentence as the court dismissed his appeal for lighter sentence.
Earlier this year, the rocker appealed to the High Court in his homeland of Tauranga, New Zealand after he was sentenced to eight months of home detention on charges of threatening to kill as well as drug possession.
Craig Tuck, Rudd's lawyer was hopeful that his client will be discharged without conviction. The lawyer has been arguing that his client was just guilty of making an angry phone call to an employee.
"That resulted in police getting a search warrant for, believe it or not, possession of cannabis own use and possession of a cellphone," Tuck told Sun Media. "They turned up at his home - nine police officers, a dog and the media. Police charged him with attempting to procure murder, which was immediately dropped."
However, an investigation showed that Rudd called a contractor and made a deal and allegedly offered "200,000, a motorbike, one of his cars or his house" for the murder of the employee, which he strongly denied, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
In April, Rudd pleaded guilty to the life threatening charges and drug possession and received his charges in July. In Oct 6, Justice Raynor Asher responded to Rudd's contention, claiming that the sentence was causing an undue financial penalty to the musician by keeping him off from the road with his band. "Even with the convictions, Mr. Rudd may practice as a musician in session work and in concerts in New Zealand and in other countries."
Noting with some conditions, "First, the band would have to want him to play with them. Second, the convictions would have to operate as a barrier to him traveling with them on tour. Neither are certain. It is far from clear that, at the time when the offending took place, there was any place in the band available to Mr. Rudd, given his drug addiction and state of mind."
Rudd is due to appear in court next month.
