Earlier this week, it was announced that former Kasabian singer Tom Meighan had left the Leicester band due to “personal issues”. Now, Meighan has pled guilty to assaulting his former fiancée, Vikki Ager.
As the BBC reports, Meighan appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court yesterday (July 7) to face charges of domestic assault. The singer admitted to assaulting Vikki Ager on the night of April 9, leaving her with with bruises on her knees, elbow, ankle as well as “a reddening around her neck”. The assault was reported by a child who witnessed the incident and called the emergency services to say a “domestic incident was taking place”. Officers who responded to the scene noted that Meighan “smelt heavily of intoxicants” and was “uncooperative and aggressive”.
After pleading guilty, Meighan was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 200 hours of unpaid work, in addition to having to complete five days of rehabilitation and paying £175 in legal fees.
Michelle Healey, Meighan’s attorney, told the court that the singer felt “deep remorse” and “personal humiliation”. Commenting on Meighan’s departure from the band, she noted: “To lose the opportunity to perform with the band he loves and people he loves is a huge personal loss.”
Following the court hearing, the band posted a statement on Twitter addressing the charges: “Now that the legal proceedings have been concluded, we can comment on the departure of Tom Meighan from the band,” they wrote. “No one in the band wanted this to happen. We have all worked so hard for the past twenty three years and had big plans for our future together. We’re completely heartbroken.”
Now that the legal proceedings have been concluded, we can comment on the departure of Tom Meighan from the band. Full statement below. Kasabian x pic.twitter.com/vP7Y61sxQA
— KasabianHQ (@KasabianHQ) July 7, 2020
They added: “But we were left with no choice but to ask Tom to leave the band. There is absolutely no way we can condone his assault conviction. Domestic violence and abuse of any kind is totally unacceptable. As soon as we found out about the charges made against Tom, we as a band made the decision that we could no longer work with him. Unfortunately we had to hold back this information until he was found guilty in court.”
Meighan then posted a statement on his personal Twitter account thanking his fans for all the “love and support” and letting them know he is “in a really good place” and will be “seeing you all very soon.”
Following today's announcement I just wanted to let you all know that I am doing well. I'm in a really good place now. Thanks for all your love and support. I'll be seeing you all very soon. TM x #TomMeighan #Kasabian
— Tom Meighan (@MeighanOfficial) July 6, 2020
Shortly after, Kasabian responded to Meighan’s post (via NME): “We were led to believe that Tom would hold his hands up in his statement and tell everyone what he’d done but he chose not to, misleading a lot of fans.”
“Ultimately, as much as Tom has hurt us all, we’re not the victim in all of this. Domestic violence is something that can never be excused.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic abuse, we encourage you to reach out:
Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0808 2000 247
You can also donate to Refuge here.
