George Michael arrested in drugs probe

LONDON (Reuters) – British singer George Michael was
arrested on Sunday on suspicion of possessing drugs after he
was found slumped in a car in central London, a police source
said.

Michael, 42, who has sold more than 80 million records
worldwide during a 25-year career, was arrested in the Hyde
Park area of the capital early on Sunday, the source said.

A London police spokesman issued a statement saying a
42-year-old man had been held on suspicion of possessing Class
C drugs, a group in British law that includes cannabis,
tranquilizers and some painkillers.

“We were called by a member of the public to a man seen
slumped over the steering wheel of a car,” the statement said.
“He was arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled
substances.”

He was bailed to return to a police station in late March
pending a police investigation.

Michael’s manager and publicist could not be reached for
comment.

Under British law, anyone convicted of having Class C drugs
can be jailed for up to two years and face an unlimited fine,
according to the Home Office (interior ministry) Web site.

In a front page report, the Sun newspaper said the singer
was found in a dark-colored Range Rover parked on Hyde Park
Corner, one of central London’s busiest intersections.

The unsourced report said he was taken into police custody
and was examined by a doctor. He had his photograph and
fingerprints taken and was released after more than seven
hours, the report said.

It is not the star’s first brush with the law.

Michael was arrested in April, 1998, for engaging in a
“lewd act” in a public toilet in Los Angeles, after which he
ended years of speculation by announcing that he was gay.

He told Reuters in an interview last year that he was
giving up the world of pop, saying he found the media attention
and celebrity “unbearable.”

The singer had a string of hits in the 1980s with the band
Wham! before forging a successful solo career with albums such
as “Faith” and “Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1.”

His Brazilian boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa died of an
AIDS-related condition in 1993, and Michael fought a legal
battle with his record label Sony in the early 1990s before
being bought out in a deal reported to be worth $40 million.

Reuters/VNU