Blythe freed on bail
Accused: Randy Blythe
Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe has been freed from prison in the Czech Republic after posting 0,000 bail following his arrest for manslaughter.
He was released on license after stumping up the amount he says he earns in a year. Considered a flight risk, he’ll have to remain in the former Soviet bloc nation pending further court action.
Police were waiting for Blythe when Lamb of God arrived in the Czech Republic last week. He was arrested at Prague airport in connection with the death of a 19-year-old fan known as Daniel N, who fell into a coma and passed away of internal bleeding in 2010.
It’s thought he sustained a fatal head injury when he attempted to climb onto Lamb of God’s stage and Blythe pushed him away.
If convicted the musician could spend up to ten years in jail.
A band spokesman said: “Under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved. This incident deals with a fan that three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance. It is alleged that, the third time, security was not able to reach him and that Randy pushed him back into the audience where supposedly he fell and hit his head.”
A number of metal musicians have spoken out in Blythe’s defence, many of them saying performers take stage invasion much more seriously after Natahn Gale shot and killed former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbot during a Damageplan gig in 2004.
Scott Ian of Anthrax says: “Now fans can see first-hand why there’s no stage-diving any more, especially in the post-Darrell world. Randy didn’t cause that fan’s death – that fan chose his path. People need to take responsibility for their actions. It’s a tragedy, but it’s not Randy’s fault. The repercussions of this are going to make shows even more stringent than they already are.”
Disturbed frontman David Draiman comments: “Ever since Dimebag was assaulted, shot and murdered by a ‘fan’, all of us have been very defensive and cautious of anyone jumping up on stage. It’s an unfortunate, tragic set of circumstances, but I know Randy’s intention was not to kill the kid.”
And Jack Gibson, bassist with Exodus, says: “A lot of bands, after what happened to Dimebag, just said: ‘No people on stage, period.’ Letting people up is part of our shows. But we have a kind of collective idea of who’s been on stage too long – you just know when a guy is not wanting to leave. You can get up, headbang, you can even come over and give us a pat and run. Then you’ve got to go. I can’t imagine a good lawyer isn’t going to get this settled. You come on stage, you’re trespassing.”
