AC/DC drummer charged in hit man hire case

Phil Rudd, drummer for rock band AC/DC, is holed up in his New Zealand home after being accused of trying to arrange two murders, reports Television New Zealand.

Rudd appeared in Tauranga District Court in Wellington on Thursday, charged with threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. The threatening to kill charge carries a maximum prison term of 10 years.

He was described in local reports as looking “bedraggled” and stunned. After a brief appearance, Rudd was released on bail and headed home.

The names of the two people he had attempted to hire a hit man in September to kill were not released.

At the hearing, Judge Louis Bidois ordered Rudd to have no further contact with the man he allegedly attempted to hire to do the hits.

Rudd’s lawyer Paul Mabey said he had no comment. Rudd is scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 27, according to court staff, though that date could change.

A spokesman for AC/DC, Benny Tarantini, released a statement from the band Thursday morning: “We’ve only become aware of Phil’s arrest as the news was breaking. We have no further comment. Phil’s absence will not affect the release of our new album Rock or Bust” — now scheduled for release Dec. 2 — “and upcoming tour next year.”

In 2010, Rudd was convicted of possession of 25 grams of marijuana and fined $250.

The drummer, who first joined AC/DC in 1974, moved to New Zealand in 1983 after leaving the band. In 2011 he bought a Tauranga restaurant he named Phil’s Place. Rudd rejoined AC/DC in the 1990s.

Ex-manager Michael Browning told Daily Mail Australia that the charge was a “bit of a shock, but there you go.”

The band’s albums include the classic Highway to Hell, Back in Black and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Their latest album, Rock or Bust, which will feature 11 news songs, is scheduled for release on Dec. 2. It will be the first AC/DC album in the band’s history without founding member and guitarist Malcolm Young, 61, who is battling dementia.

Rudd and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 in Cleveland.

In recent years, AC/DC became known as one of the few acts that refused to allow its music to be released digitally on iTunes. It finally relented in late 2012. This year, the band announced that founding member Malcolm Young, brother of Angus, was leaving due to unspecified health reasons.

Rudd released a solo album called Head Job in September.