AC/DC drummer back in court after scuffle

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was back in court on Thursday, with a judge reportedly ordering him to keep off drugs after a scuffle on a New Zealand street.

The 60-year-old was taken into police custody after the fracas broke out around 10.30am (2130 GMT) in the North Island coastal town of Tauranga.

Television footage showed officers bundling the rocker, who is already facing charges of threatening to kill and drug possession, into a squad car in handcuffs.

Fairfax Media reported that he did not face fresh charges, but judge Paul Geoghegan tightened his bail conditions to include a specific restriction on the taking of illegal drugs.

Local reports described the man Rudd was fighting as a witness in the criminal case he is facing after police raided his waterside mansion in Tauranga last month.

"I saw him following a taller, bigger guy trying to punch the guy," cafe owner Leo Rojas told New Zealand Newswire.

He said Rudd launched punches and kicks, but the man brushed him aside and "he literally fell away like a fly".

Rudd, who denies all the charges against him, is due in court again on February 10. Threatening to kill carries a potential jail term of seven years under New Zealand law.

He was originally also charged with "attempting to procure murder" but it was dropped after prosecutors examined police files and decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

Australian-born Rudd has lived in Tauranga for several years since first moving to New Zealand in 1983.

AC/DC, one of the world's top selling bands, this week released their latest studio album "Rock or Bust". Rudd's legal woes have cast doubt on whether he will stay with the band, which is planning a world tour to promote the album.