Sticky Fingers frontman Dylan James Frost, 34, was not required to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Monday after pleading not guilty to a single charge of shoplifting.
Police allege the rocker stole the A$6.50 (NZ$7.15) roast chicken and A$2.65 Ice Break double espresso coffee from Woolworths Metro in Haymarket shortly after 1pm on June 27.
Frost’s girlfriend, Elyssa Ford, 23, is also alleged to have stolen a Life Savers Raspberry Fizz Stix from the same Woolworths at the same time.
The couple both entered pleas of not guilty in August, with Ford facing a single charge of shoplifting items under A$2000 and possessing a prohibited drug.
Representing Frost, lawyer Robert Candelori asked for the matter to go to a hearing in July 2025, when his client would defend the allegation of shoplifting.
The 34-year-old is lead vocalist and guitarist for Sydney indie-rock band Sticky Fingers, which went on a two-year “hiatus” in 2016 following a string of allegations against Frost.
He was accused of racism, sexism, transphobia and aggressive behaviour and, in an interview with Triple J’s radio show Hack, responded to his past antics by stating, “Boys will be boys.”
In a statement to Instagram at the time, the band said the comments were in “no way intended to show we aren’t genuinely on a path to positive change”.
One month after the interview, Frost was removed from Sydney pub Kelly’s on King in Newtown after another incident, with The Music reporting he was escorted from the premises after a verbal altercation with model Alexandra V Tanygina. The Australian reported that Frost told Tanygina “he hated transgender feminists, that he couldn’t be sexist because his mother was a feminist and he couldn’t be racist because he was Māori”.
Dylan Frost of the Australian indie-rock band Sticky Fingers performs on stage at La Riviera on July 13, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. Photo / Getty Images
Frost isn’t the only band member to face backlash. In 2021, bassist Paddy Cornwall pleaded guilty following a fight with Frost at a bowling club in Marrickville, during which he reportedly punched the frontman — who was also charged and later checked into rehab — in the head 26 times.
Frost has previously said he suffered “alcohol addiction and mental health issues” and had been diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia.
Frost grew up in Auckland, where his mother owned a club, and the book details their time on Greys Ave and the family’s move to Australia for a fresh start.
“Groom paints a troubled portrait of Frost — “an anti-social butterfly” — he was known to disappear for long periods, and was frequently difficult to find before shows,” wrote Herald reviewer Ben Tomsett. “The book further details that Frost was checked into rehab.”
Frost returned to New Zealand for a stint in 2019, staying in Bay of Plenty and working with Tiki Taane on his debut solo EP, Lush Linguistic.
