Former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan has today (July 7) pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-fiancée in April.
The plea and court hearing, which took place at Leicester Magistrates’ Court, comes a day on from the announcement that Meighan was leaving Kasabian, with a statement citing "personal reasons."
As The Daily Mirror reports, a judge sentenced him to 200 hours of unpaid work in the community during today’s hearing. Martin Fricker, a senior reporter at The Daily Mirror, tweeted that the judge had told Meighan that he could send him to prison for the attack.
The attack, which was alleged to have been fuelled by alcohol, was caught on CCTV at the couple’s home on April 9. The footage showed Meighan striking his ex-fiancée, Vikki Ager, and dragging her by her ankles into the property’s back garden.
It was confirmed in court that Ager suffered bruising to her knees, left elbow, outer ankle, and big toe, as well as a reddening around her neck, as a result of the attack. A child is also said to have witnessed the attack and called 999 to report that a "domestic incident was taking place."
Meighan initially denied the assault but, after being shown the CCTV footage, told police he could not watch it any further because it was "horrible."
During today’s hearing, Meighan’s lawyer, Michelle Heeley QC, said that his appearance in court on a domestic assault charge was a "personal humiliation, but he has nobody but himself to blame." Heeley added that Meighan "offers his sincere apologies to the people he has let down and he has sought to address his offending behaviour."
Prosecutor Naeem Valli told the court that the offence "could be argued to be relatively serious," additionally describing the attack as a "sustained assault."
In a statement shared yesterday, Kasabian said: "Tom Meighan is stepping down from Kasabian by mutual consent. Tom has struggled with personal issues that have affected his behaviour for quite some time and now wants to concentrate all his energies on getting his life back on track. We will not be commenting further."
