|
Post by masterplan200 on Nov 21, 2004 20:02:44 GMT -5
ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN
A GERMAN court has added insult to injury for Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher by fining him almost £40,000 for his part in a drunken nightclub brawl that cost him his two front teeth.
Gallagher, 32, and Oasis band members became embroiled in the fracas two years ago during a tour, which started when they flicked peanuts at a group of businessmen and ended with the band bloodied, bruised and beaten after their targets fought back.
Oasis band members spent 12 hours in custody, and they were forced to cancel their remaining tour dates so that Gallagher could undergo extensive dental surgery, costing them £175,000 in ticket sales.
"All in all it was a very expensive night," said Munich prosecutor Harald Koenig yesterday, adding that because Gallagher had admitted causing damage during a fight in Munich there was no need for a further court hearing and all proceedings were now closed.
Witnesses said the band members were already drunk and throwing nuts in the nightclub of the high-class Bayerischer Hof Hotel in the Bavarian capital in December 2002 when the club’s disc jockey - not realising the band were present - played an Oasis record.
That prompted Gallagher and fellow band member Alan White to jump on to the stage and do a karaoke version.
One Oasis member then collapsed on to the table of some local businessmen and a fight broke out.
Police said Gallagher and his band thought the businessmen would be a "pushover". But it was Oasis who fared worst in the fight. Gallagher, in particular, and the other Oasis members, who also included Steven Allen and Philip Bevan Smith, were thoroughly trounced.
One of the Germans, 6ft 6in building firm owner and American football player Christian Weiss - known as ‘The Powderkeg’ because of his volatile temper - has still to face charges for knocking out Gallagher’s front teeth.
One of the band’s bodyguards was knocked out by a brass standing ashtray.
At one point Gallagher, blood streaming from his face, leaped on to the stage in the nightclub and began whirling a microphone stand around his head like a Viking battleaxe. Dozens of police raced to the scene at the hotel, which has hosted royalty and celebrities.
Gallagher karate-kicked a policeman as he was being led away in handcuffs.
Koenig said Gallagher, other band members and bodyguards had been drinking "very heavily". Tests later showed Gallagher had also been taking cocaine.
The police report said both sides attacked each other with "every available object" as the brawl spilled upstairs into the main foyer of the hotel, where several windows were broken.
Ten police cars were dispatched but only Oasis members were arrested. The five businessmen escaped and were not arrested until later.
Gallagher paid 250,000 - around £180,000 pounds - to authorities to be able to leave Germany after the fight. The balance of the money will be refunded to him in the UK.
In the court decision it was ruled that just under £12,000 of the fine would go towards the damages in the nightclub.
Just over £3,750 will go to the policeman he injured and the rest will be paid to local charities in Munich.
An Oasis bodyguard was fined £6,000 and must pay £500 to a female toilet attendant in front of whom he dropped his trousers during the mêlée.
Police have not been able to trace any of the other Germans involved in the fight. Weiss will stand trial on assault charges next year.
Gallagher now has dental implants, in which a titanium screw is fitted directly into the bone to form a false root
|
|