People talk 10/03/02

Adam Ant suffers mental-illness episode

LONDON -- A judge said '80s pop idol Adam Ant suffered a "temporary episode" of mental illness when he threatened pub customers with a fake pistol, and sentenced him Wednesday to a year's community service and rehabilitation treatment.

Justice Jeremy Roberts also ordered Ant to pay $780 in compensation to a man who needed three stitches after being hit in the head by a car alternator that Ant flung through the window of the Prince of Wales pub in January.

"There is no question of a prison sentence here," Roberts said. "What you did was rather serious and could have had worse consequences than it did.

"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," he added.

The 48-year-old singer, who appeared in court under his real name of Stuart Goddard, had pleaded guilty to one charge of brawling. After the incident at the north London bar, Ant was committed to a hospital under the Mental Health Act, which allows doctors to detain patients for their own well-being.

Paul Bowen, Ant's attorney, said the singer is receiving psychiatric treatment.

Ant, whose hits include "Strip" and "Goody Two-Shoes," left the court without commenting to reporters.

Bowen told the court Ant was angry that customers mocked his flat cap and combat jacket when he entered the pub on Jan. 12.

Ant later threw a car alternator through the pub window, which hit musician Pavlos Contostavlos on the back of the head.

Reporter, detective set to release Moxley bookNEW YORK -- An investigative reporter and a police detective, both of whom spent years trying to solve the murder of Martha Moxley, are collaborating on a book about the case that ended with the conviction of Kennedy relative Michael Skakel.

"Conviction," by Newsday reporter Leonard Levitt and Connecticut police detective Frank Garr, is scheduled to be published by ReganBooks next summer.

"No matter how difficult the circumstances, no matter how many obstacles were thrown their way, they believed that justice should prevail. And they never sold out in the process," ReganBooks publisher Judith Regan said in a statement Tuesday.

Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Skakel, a nephew of the late Robert F. Kennedy, was convicted in June of beating Moxley to death with a golf club in Greenwich when they were 15-year-old neighbors in 1975.

He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in August.

His attorneys have cited numerous issues they plan to raise on appeal, including a statute of limitations and the transfer of the case from juvenile to adult court.

A formal appeal to the Connecticut Supreme Court is expected to be filed in a few months.

Richards has footpath removed from near homeLONDON -- A local council in southern England said it has agreed to move a footpath from which prying eyes could peer into the country home of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

The guitarist had complained that the path, popular with weekend walkers, ran within 10 yards of his property in West Wittering, allowing passers-by to see into the grounds.

West Sussex Council said Tuesday it has agreed to have the path moved to the other side of a nearby field.

"Someone well-known is more vulnerable than you or me. We are well aware of what the paparazzi do. We are well aware of what nutters can do," said Bill Acraman, chairman of the council's rights of way committee.

"Whether they be prime minister or pop star, they are more vulnerable than you or I. I strongly feel we should be able to go the extra mile."

Richards, 58, bought the thatched seaside house 75 miles south of London as a country retreat in 1966.

A spokesman for Richards, who is on tour in the United States with the Rolling Stones, said he was not available for comment Tuesday.

-- From wire reports