Fury as rock star avoids jail after beating up his fiancee
FORMER Kasabian singer Tom Meighan walked free from court yesterday despite admitting grabbing and beating up his girlfriend in front of a child.
Domestic violence campaigners were furious at Meighan’s sentence of 200 hours of unpaid work after hearing of the sustained attack on Vikki Ager.
A court heard he throttled her, smashed her head into a hamster cage and dragged her by her ankles in the drunken assault.
The child who witnessed the scene called police to say “a domestic incident” was taking place.
Call handlers said the child sounded “panicked and afraid” while Ms Ager could be heard in the background pleading: “Get off me! Get off me!”
Sickening
The sickening assault left his former fiancee with bruises and reddening around her neck as well as other injuries.
Meighan, 39, from Narborough, Leics, admitted the attack during lockdown on April 9 when he appeared at Leicester magistrates court. The judge said he had considered sending him to jail.
Professor Clare McGlynn, QC, an expert in domestic violence wrote on Twitter: “Note, involves strangulation and he denied it until shown video. Deeply troubling.” Domestic violence campaigners Women’s Aid added: “There is no excuse for abuse.”
Ms Ager declined to make a statement to police and did not support the prosecution case, the court heard. But officers who responded described her as “visibly upset” while Meighan was “uncooperative, aggressive and smelt heavily of intoxicants”. Despite obvious signs of injury, including vivid red marks to Ms Ager’s throat, Meighan had initially denied the assault.
But confronted by CCTV footage of the violence, he turned away and told officers he could not bear to watch any further, describing the scenes as “horrible”.
Yesterday, he wiped away tears as Naeem Valli, prosecuting, summarised the case to the court.
Apart from marks to her neck, Ms Ager also suffered bruising to her knees, left elbow, outer ankle and big toe.
District Judge NickWatson told Meighan he had considered sending him to jail.
He said: “Ms Ager has not made a statement to police and does not appear to support this prosecution. Of course, that choice does not mean I should treat this offence any less seriously.
“Throughout most of the video she could be seen fighting you off.
“There are a number of things which make this offence more serious. A child was witness to this behaviour and she must have been frightened over what was happening.
“The police have been called before and there is evidence of previous abusive behaviour. Ms Ager says what happened was an isolated event.
“I need to take account of the fact that not only did you hurt Ms Ager, you also let down many people – band members and those who love your music.
They will be shocked about what you did that night.”
During the 90-minute hearing, CCTV of the attack was played in court as Meighan wiped his eyes with a tissue and held his head in his hands.
Michelle Heeley QC, mitigating, told the court Meighan offered “his sincere apologies to the people he has let down and he has sought to address his offending behaviour”.
She added that his appearance in the dock was a “personal humiliation, but he has nobody but himself to blame”.
The singer quit Kasabian 24 hours before yesterday’s court appearance, with the Brit Award-winning band issuing a statement citing “personal issues”.
Angry
But as the truth emerged, angry fans took to social media condemning Meighan and the band’s statement for glossing over the violent conduct.
Women’s Aid added: “Disappointing to see Kasabian say the reason their lead singer was leaving the band was due to ‘personal reasons that affected his behaviour’.
“He pleaded guilty to assaulting his former fiancee in front of a child. There is no excuse for abuse.”
One outraged fan wrote on Twitter: “200 hours Community Service for this?
“What happened to zero tolerance on domestic violence?”
Another said: “The judge says he could have sent Meighan to jail. What on earth does it take?”