DJ attacked Glastonbury guard ‘like bull’
GOLDIE, the DJ, displayed an “arrogant sense of entitlement” in attacking a security guard at Glastonbury, a court heard yesterday.
The 52-year-old – real name Clifford Joseph Price – pushed Dennis Poole, a security guard, and scratched his face after denying him access to a backstage VIP area. Bristol magistrates’ court heard how Price came at Mr Poole “like a raging bull” and “puffed his chest out” before grabbing him in a headlock.
The drum and bass DJ and producer, who played goldtoothed bodyguard Mr Bullion in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, was fined £2,463 after admitting common assault.
Last month, he became the first person to plead guilty via Facetime after failing to attend court – because he was in Thailand. The DJ’S daughter, Chance, 20, was also accused of kicking the security guard as he lay on the ground at Worthy Farm, Somerset. But after her father changed his plea to guilty, prosecutors said it would not be in the public interest to proceed with the case against Chance.
District Judge David Taylor said: “As a high-profile performer, you would have been very aware of the importance of backstage security and the proper means of securing entry.
“And yet, attempting to get your own way, you assaulted Mr Poole and put him in a headlock. Your unjustified actions demonstrated an arrogant sense of entitlement based on your own self-importance.”
The court heard the attack began when Mr Poole would not allow the pair into a production area because they were not wearing the correct wristbands.
In a statement, Mr Poole described how the attack, on June 23 last year, meant he quit his job after six years working at the festival.
He said: “I had to cancel all of those [bookings] due to the emotional and psychological impact this has had on me. I lost all confidence in my role and had to quit as a security guard – a job I loved.”