A member of the British boy band 5ive, which split recently, was in court yesterday accused of assaulting a customer in a Dublin pub during an argument in which he allegedly said Irish rivals Westlife sang "crap ballads".
Charges against Jason "J" Brown (24) were dismissed under the Probation Act after he agreed to pay £5,000 to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
He admitted striking customer Mr Fionan Gallagher in the Palace Bar, Fleet Street, on December 20th last, but claimed he had acted in self-defence because he believed he or fellow band member Mr Richard Dobson were about to be assaulted. He pleaded not guilty to the assault charge but admitted being drunk and breaching the peace.
Mr Gallagher told Dublin District Court he was in the pub with work colleagues when Mr Brown and seven or eight others arrived. According to witnesses, Mr Brown said: "I am in the music industry, I have sold five million records worldwide and nobody has bought me a drink."
Somebody made a remark about whether they were Westlife and, according to witnesses, when Mr Gallagher was told they were not the Irish band he remarked: "Westlife are Irish, they are good guys." Mr Brown then said: "Stop taking the piss. You know we are not Westlife. Westlife sing crap ballads". Witnesses said Mr Brown had become very angry and struck Mr Gallagher under the right eye with his fist. His eye later closed from bruising.
Mr Brown and his friends then left the pub but an off-duty detective called for assistance and two uniformed garda∅ arrested both Mr Brown and Mr Dobson who earlier this year pleaded guilty to breach of the peace and being drunk and also received the Probation Act after paying £3,000 to charity.
Mr Brown denied saying Westlife sang crap ballads and said rivalry between the two bands was the invention of the press. He was very friendly with Westlife.