Oasis frontman 'beaten up by computer geeks'

OASIS lead singer Liam Gallagher was beaten up by a group of estate agents and computer salesmen in a nightclub fracas 17 months ago, not gangsters as was originally claimed, according to Munich police.

They also said Gallagher had been using cocaine and was "totally drunk" when the mle broke out in the nightclub, attached to one of the city’s premier hotels.

Now his five attackers are likely to be charged with causing grievous bodily harm in the brawl that cost Gallagher his front teeth and left much of the nightclub furniture reduced to matchwood.

Gallagher, 31, could also face proceedings, Munich’s chief prosecutor, Anton Winkler, said yesterday.

He added: "He was the worst one in the entire episode. He assaulted a police officer who was trying to pull other people apart. If proceedings are brought he could face a fine or suspended sentence."

Mr Winkler said blood tests conducted after Gallagher’s arrest showed he was drunk and had been using cocaine, although no cocaine was found on him.

Other band members are also under investigation and could be summoned.

The fight happened on the night of 1 December, 2002.

At the time, police indicated that Gallagher, Allen White, Steven Allen and Philip Bevan Smith were beaten after insulting a group of mafia-linked locals.

The men had booked their table at the nightclub under the name of Matera - a local criminal of some renown - which led police along a false trail for many months.

The police report states that the fight began because the Oasis group began flicking peanuts at the businessmen. Their full names have not been released by the Munich public prosecutor, but all are aged between 32 and 38.

Their "leader" is called Christian W, 38, described as a "muscular blond". In the police report, he knocked out two Oasis bodyguards with a brass standing ashtray. The prosecutor’s office says it has statements from 50 witnesses to the fight and that "in all probability" a prosecution will follow.

Lawyers for the men are angry that Gallagher and the others may not be summoned - especially as Gallagher kicked a policeman and was foul-mouthed to other officers who arrived at the hotel.

"We feel their fame will allow them to get off, even though they started everything," a lawyer for one of the men said in a statement.

Gallagher paid a fine of nearly 250,000 - 170,000 - for his conduct and that of other band members at the time. It may be that the prosecutor’s office will find this sufficient not to press new charges against him.

The Oasis German tour was immediately cancelled after the fracas, and Gallagher flew back to the UK after undergoing emergency dental treatment in Munich.

The witness statements and police investigation papers run to 1,000 sides, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Rock 'n' brawl singers

SINCE the first pop record was made more than 50 years ago, rock groups and pop singers have been terrorising their fellow band members and the general public in drunken brawls.

Jerry Lee Lewis set the standard in the late Fifties when he accidentally shot his bass player in the chest. The guitar player survived and sued him for damages.

Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay was left with a broken nose after an incident outside a nightclub in 2001.

Stumbling from London’s Attica Club, the singer launched a foul-mouthed tirade at two girls before taking a drunken swipe at a photographer. Although the singer was left with a bloody nose, he still managed to throw a bottle of vodka from the back of his Mercedes.

Lee Ryan, singer with the band Blue, also saw red after a night on the tiles with Girls Aloud stars Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle and Kimberley Walsh. Exiting London’s trendy 10 Rooms with a companion, Ryan allegedly landed a flying kick at a photographer who had snapped the couple.

But flare-ups are not the preserve of men. Icelandic singer Bjork infamously lost her temper at Bangkok airport, claiming that Julie Kaufman, a reporter, was harassing her son. Grabbing Ms Kaufman’s hair, she repeatedly banged her head on the ground.

Last year, another Girls Aloud star, Cheryl Tweedy, was convicted of a drunken assault on a nightclub lavatory attendant. After downing a cocktail of drinks the singer punched her victim in a "hysterical" outburst.

WILLIAM LYONS