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Böhse Onkelz singer on trial for drugged-up hit-and-run

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Böhse Onkelz singer on trial for drugged-up hit-and-run
Photo: DPA

Kevin Russell, the former singer of the German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz, faces a Frankfurt court Friday after allegedly taking drugs on New Year’s Eve 2009, seriously injuring two people in a high speed crash and then fleeing the scene.

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The 46-year-old stands accused of getting high on cocaine and methadone before getting behind the wheel and ramming a small car while driving some 230 kilometres per hour. Two young men in the other car suffered severe injuries and will appear as joint plaintiffs in the case.

Russell, who has previous convictions, denies that he caused the accident, but state prosecutors found his DNA traces on the sports car air bag. Other evidence against him includes security camera footage of Russell shopping at a nearby motorway gas station just minutes before the accident.

The musician faces charges of negligent bodily harm, reckless driving and fleeing the scene of an accident.

The Frankfurt court plans to deliberate for six days.

The band Böhse Onkelz, a misspelling of the colloquial phrase "bad uncles," was together from 1980 to 2005. Their musical style has changed through the years from punk, to Ska to heavy metal.

He was born in Hamburg to a German mother and a British pilot for German airline Lufthansa.

DAPD/DPA/ka

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