Yesterday it was announced that lead singer Tom Meighan would be leaving the band, this was widely reported on and had fans reeling from the news and rushing to support him. Today though, after appearing in court and pleading guilty to assaulting his former fiance, he has been sentenced to complete 200 hours of community service.
The court heard that on the night of the 9th of April a child called the police and when they arrived Meighan “smelt heavily of intoxicants” and Mrs Ager was “visibly upset” while Meighan was “aggressive and un-cooperative”. Mrs Ager suffered bruising to multiple parts of her body as well as reddening around her neck, which she confirmed to police was sustained through the attack.
Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan has admitted attacking his girlfriend in a booze-fuelled rage. CCTV shows him striking the victim and dragging her by her ankles into the back garden of their home during lockdown in April.
— Martin Fricker (@martinfricker) July 7, 2020
The judge commented at the trial on the severity of the offence saying “I could send you to jail for this” and “it could be argued to be relatively serious.” This demonstrated how serious the trial was with Tom being threatened with jail time. It comes a day after he left the band and said he is going to “concentrate all his energies on getting his life back on track”.
Understandably, this news has been met with outrage from a lot of people. People are also taking to criticising the band on the way they have dealt with the departure of Meighan and the revelations that have been discovered today.
Previous to this week, Meighan had been with Kasabian for 23 years and he had seen it change from his small band with his mates to one of the biggest acts in English rock right now. Serge and the other two members, Chris Edwards and Ian Matthews, remain in the band. It is yet to be seen whether the band will continue as a three piece, hire a new singer or just call it a day. Serge already has a second project, in his solo outfit The S.L.P. It is yet to be seen if Kasabian will continue with their tour and record new music after COVID-19 goes.
(Image credit: Raymond Flotat)
