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AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has lost his appeal against a string of recent convictions in New Zealand. The musician had been ordered in June to serve a sentence of eight months home detention along with six months of post-release conditions and payment of $NZ120,000 (£51,000) reparation after pleading guilty to charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis. However, his appeal, which argued that the sentence “was manifestly excessive”, was rejected by New Zealand’s high court. …

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was behind bars Sunday after being arrested in New Zealand, just days after he was sentenced to home detention for threatening to kill a man who used to work for him. The 61-year-old Australian-born drummer was arrested at his home on New Zealand’s North Island on Saturday night, though police refused to comment on the nature of the arrest, the New Zealand Herald reported. Rudd’s lawyer, Craig Tuck, confirmed in an email Sunday that Rudd had been arrested and that he was due to appear in court on Monday for a bail application. Tuck said he...

Wellington (AFP) - AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd will stand trial in April on charges of threatening to kill and drug possession, court officials in New Zealand ruled Monday. Rudd, 60, will face a judge-alone trial in the Tauranga District Court beginning on April 21, officials said. The veteran rocker has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from a police raid on his waterfront North Island mansion on November 6. He was also initially charged with "attempting to procure murder", but it was dropped after prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed. The case has left Rudd's position...

The drummer of hard rock group AC/DC, Phil Rudd, has had a charge of attempted to arrange a murder dropped in New Zealand. Mr. Rudd’s lawyer said the charge was dropped because of lack of evidence. Australian Mr. Rudd will still face charges—announced on Thursday—of possessing drugs and of making threats to kill. […] Mr. Rudd’s lawyer, Paul Mabey, said the “charge alleging an attempt to procure murder should never have been laid”. […] He described the drug charges as “minor” offenses and said the musician would defend the charge of making threats to kill, which carries a maximum sentence...

Phil Rudd, the drummer for legendary hard rock band AC/DC, has been charged with attempting to have two men killed. The 60-year-old appeared in a New Zealand court Thursday afternoon facing a count of attempting to procure the murder of two men, said Bay of Plenty Police District representative Kim Perks.