THE CASE CONTINUES…….
9.00 am: "I'm telling you, last time they were 'ere, when they was first arrested, they came up from the cells, all handcuffed together One of 'em was told to take 'is hands out of 'is pockets. Dunno which one it was, like, but if they're caught doing that again…. 'Ere, have you heard of The Stone Roses, Carol?"
"Who?"
"Told yer. I'm a big Billy Fury fan meself……. Are they in the charts then?"
The bouncer bloke at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court, which usually deals with TV licence and parking offences, is a bit bemused by the fuss that surrounds The Stone Roses Court Case. Sallow youths keep popping in and asking which court they'll be in. He tells them to come back in half an hour, feeling rather important, and goes on to talk about Luther Vandross.
9.30 am: "I think they come from Manchester," says the prosecutor bloke to a colleague as he goes through an enormous pile of legal documents.
9.35 am: The Stone Roses arrive. They sit around for a while, muttering amongst themselves.
9.50 am: "I'm sorry, you'll have to leave the court, we don't have any seats left." About 15 fans have been refused entry.
9.55 am: "If we start with The Stone Roses now, we can get rid of all this," says the prosecutor as he waves his hands pompously towards the full public gallery.
10.00 am: "Could you all stand please," says the chief magistrate to The Roses, as she looks down her nose. They all stand and are made to give their home addresses and dates of birth. "Mumble mumble mumble" is about the clearest you can hear.
The magistrate gets round to Reni, "Could you take your hands out of your pockets?" she snaps.
"Certainly," replies Reni humbly putting his arms by his side.
"This is a dispute between the record company and four members of a music group. They are known as Stone Roses," states the prosecutor. "The defendants went to the record company premises and spread paint about…… it was not a spur of the moment matter so I request a Crown Court trial." Reni bites his nails.
10.10 am: The court decides to adjourn the case until 12th April, with the Roses remanded on conditional bail (they can't go near either of the Revolver Records premises and they have to "keep away from Paul Birch (Managing Director of Revolver) and Olivia Darling (his girlfriend)"). "Do you understand?" croaks the magistrate. They all nod and that's the end of the case for now.
10.15 am: Upstairs in the main part of the building The 'Roses have to wait around for their green bail forms. Fans and journalists are milling about and The Roses happily sign autographs on bits of paper, T-shirts and jeans.
Ian Brown comes up to Bitz and chats a bit. On looking at the super new issue with The 'Roses poster and lyrics inside, he immediately checks to see if the words are right. "Yup," he concludes and folds the magazine until it's the size of a matchbox and stuffs it into his pocket. So how does he feel about it all? "Well, I'm a bit tired, I haven't been to bed yet," he admits. John Squire sits down and looks grumpy, whilst Reni thinks up lots of crap things to write on autographs ("To Daz, Hope it all comes out in the wash, Love From Reni"). Mani smiles a lot and looks very, erm, small.
It takes them approximately 17 days to get to their car. As they leave (apparently to go to the Ski Shop), they hang a small sign out of the window. "The Emerald City Or Bust" it says on one side. On the other: "The Manchester Four Are Innocent". We shall see…….
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