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Fallen star Adam Ant pleads guilty
LONDON, England -- British 1980s pop star Adam Ant was suffering from a temporary mental illness when he threatened pub drinkers with an imitation pistol, a court has ruled. The 48-year-old, who appeared at the Old Bailey, central London, on Wednesday under his real name of Stuart Goddard, pleaded guilty to one charge of affray. He was placed under a one-year court supervision order by Judge Jeremy Roberts who accepted the singer -- famous for hits like "Prince Charming" and "Goody Two Shoes" -- had suffered a "temporary episode" of mental illness. Paul Bowen, Ant's lawyer, said the singer -- who is having psychiatric treatment -- had been angered when regulars at the Prince of Wales public house, in north London, mocked his flat cap and combat jacket on January 12 this year. He later threw a car alternator through the pub window, which struck musician Pavlos Contostavlos on the back of the head. Customers pursued Ant, who threatened them with an imitation wartime starting pistol. Judge Roberts said: "The psychiatrists are agreed that you were suffering a temporary episode of a recognized mental disorder which could have substantially impaired the responsibility for what you did.
"Happily, you have now recovered from that episode." Ant was also ordered to pay £500 ($780) in compensation to Contostavlos. But the judge said he had to be sure there would not be a repetition, so he was making the order to enable Ant to be supervised by psychiatrists and social workers. Adam Ant started out as Goddard's flamboyant stage persona who dressed in bondage-style outfits. On the fringes of punk in the late '70s, Adam and The Ants scored minor hits with "Zerox," "Cartrouble" and "Young Parisians." But his transformation into the Prince Charming of pop -- a dandy highwayman who, in one video, flamboyantly held up a stagecoach -- resulted a string of top 10 hits over three years, including "Ant Music," "Stand and Deliver," "Goody Two Shoes" and "Dog Eat Dog." The band's 1981 album, "Kings of the Wild Frontier," sold 5 million copies. But his phenomenal success did not last beyond the mid-'80s, and despite a appearance at Live Aid, he left Britain to try acting in the U.S. where he appeared in films and TV shows such as "The Equalizer" and "Northern Exposure."
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