AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd wasn't talking to Bay of Plenty Times staff outside his Tauranga house after his court appearance yesterday. Photo/John Borren
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd wasn't talking to Bay of Plenty Times staff outside his Tauranga house after his court appearance yesterday. Photo/John Borren
The man AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd allegedly tried to hire as a hitman has talked about his friendship with the rockstar.
Rudd appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday after police raided his Harbour Drive home earlier in the morning.
COURT APPEARANCE: Phil Rudd leaves the Tauranga District court yesterday.PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK
He was charged with attempting to procure a man to kill two Tauranga residents, threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.
The alleged hitman, whose name was suppressed in court, spoke exclusively to the Bay of Plenty Times and said he was friends with Rudd and had met him when he ran a business in Tauranga.
Rudd would often let him drive his cars, the latest Ferrari and Lamborghini models, as well as going for trips in his helicopter or going out fishing, he said.
When the Bay of Plenty Times asked the man about allegations Rudd had asked him to kill two people he replied, "I don't know what you're talking about".
The rockstar had recently become irritable, burnt too many bridges and cut off those closest to him, the man said.
Despite the allegations Rudd was a good person, he said.
"The joys of being a rockstar, always in the spotlight. You've got to feel sorry for him - just the expectations everyone has of him. He's a good fella. He's got a big heart."
The man said police had called him yesterday morning to tell him Rudd had been arrested.
Both of Rudd's alleged victims refused to comment when approached by reporters.
The 60-year-old Australian musician was dressed in jeans and a grey jersey when he appeared before Judge Louis Bidois in Tauranga District Court yesterday.
He did not speak when he appeared in the dock and entered no plea to the charges. He has been bailed until his next appearance on November 27.
Rudd, who had been in custody since the police raided his house earlier that day, was ordered to have no contact with the victims or the man he allegedly tried to hire to carry out the two hits. He was also forbidden from going to two Tauranga streets.
Judge Louis Bidois suppressed the names of the alleged intended victims and the alleged hitman.
Rudd did not seek name suppression.
Rudd was seen leaving court in a soft-top silver Mercedes sedan driven by a blonde woman who had watched the court proceedings from the public gallery. He refused to speak to gathered media.
Security outside Phil Rudd's Tauranga home. Photo/John Borren
The maximum penalty for procuring a murder is 10 years' imprisonment, while threatening to kill carried a maximum of seven years.
An elderly man in a car parked outside the Rudd's waterfront yesterday morning told the Bay of Plenty Times that he had seen police at the house that morning.
Parked on the grass opposite the house were two cars - an Armourguard car with a uniformed guard inside and an unmarked car driven by a man wearing a Phil's Place T-shirt.
Jo O'Keeffe, manager at Phil's Place Restaurant, said she did not know anything about the matter but that the restaurant was still open.
Rudd's defence lawyer Paul Mabey QC told the Bay of Plenty Times he was not prepared to comment on the police allegations at this time.
Ex-manager Michael Browning told Daily Mail Australia that the charge was a "bit of a shock, but there you go".
Rudd has lived in Tauranga for a number of years. He moved to New Zealand in 1983 after being sacked from the band.
Rudd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC.
In 2011 he bought a restaurant at Tauranga's Bridge Marina and called it Phil's Place. It closed temporarily in 2012 but reopened in April this year.
AC/DC are gearing up to release their first new album later this month, called Rock or Bust, the follow-up to their eight-million selling 2008 chart topper Black Ice. It will be the first AC/DC album in the band's history without founder member and guitarist Malcolm Young, who is battling dementia.
It was unclear how Rudd's arrest would affect the group's upcoming 2015 world tour.
Rudd released a solo album called Head Job in September, recorded with Kiwi musicians Allan Badger of Rotorua, and Geoffrey Martin of Auckland.
* Born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis on 19 May 1954 in Melbourne.
* Best known as the drummer in Aussie rock band AC/DC from 1975 until 1983, and again from 1994 to the present.
* In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other members of AC/DC.
* Rudd has lived in Tauranga for a number of years. He moved to New Zealand in 1983 after being sacked from the band, and stayed here after he rejoined.
* In 2011 he bought a restaurant at Tauranga's Bridge Marina and called it Phil's Place. It closed temporarily in 2012 but reopened in April this year.
