Novinky.cz, the Czech news source that broke the news that Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe was arrested yesterday on manslaughter charges in Prague, says the singer could face 5-10 years in prison for his alleged involvement in an incident that left a fan dead. “For bodily injury resulting in death under section 146, paragraph 4 of the criminal code threatens Blythe five to ten years in prison,” the site says.
The band’s PR company, Adrenaline PR, issued the following statement:
Lamb of God Management will be issuing an official statement on Monday regarding the charges made against singer Randy Blythe. As no formal charges have yet been made and the case is only in the investigation stages, it would be premature to make an official statement filled with false truths or innuendos.
Having said that, management wished to address today one false piece of information that has been included in many of the news stories released so far. 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.
Again, until the investigation is concluded this weekend, nothing more will be released, but clarity and the facts needed to be addressed on this one reported point which is totally inaccurate.
Mark Blythe,” Randy’s brother, told Richmond’s WTVR that the charges are “Bogus and outgageous and will be dropped immediately. Tomas Fiala from Czech booking agency Obscure Promotion calls the altercation “an unfortunate incident,” and says they’ll be preparing a statement.
According to WTVR, “those who know the band heard the intruder may have been struck with a microphone before the security team forced him from the stage.” Sources say that the fan died of a brain hemorrhage several weeks later in a hospital. Novinky points out that the club the band was playing, Abaton, usually has a barrier preventing fans from getting on stage. We’re obviously not legal experts, , but it seems to us like the club might also be at fault for this unfortunate incident. There’s a degree of self defense involved here, and if a fan jumps onstage, they should expect to be removed. There are still a lot of details to be sorted out, but we’d hope that Blythe’s legal team is working on this, and are hopeful that the truth comes out.
