Kasabian 'completely Heartbroken' After Tom Meighan Misled Fans Over Assault Charge

Kasabian are ''completely heartbroken'' after former frontman Tom Meighan misled their fans with his statement regarding his exit from the group.

The singer was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to assaulting his former fiancee this week.

The 39-year-old music star admitted at Leicester Magistrates' Court to attacking Vikki Ager on April 9, with the court being told that a child had witnessed the incident and had reported the assault to the police.

The court was also told that Tom ''smelt heavily of intoxicants'' during the assault.

Tom initially denied the charge of assault - which was captured on CCTV - but changed his plea after watching video footage and telling police it was ''horrible''.

After the sentencing, his ex-bandmates have issued a second statement in which they called out Tom for not telling fans about the charges he faced and insisted they had no choice but to let him go.

They wrote: ''Now that the legal proceedings have been concluded, we can comment on the departure of Tom Meighan from Kasabian.

''No one in the band wanted this to happen. We have all worked so hard for the past 23 years and had big plans for our future together. We're completely heartbroken.

''But we were left with no choice but to ask Tom to leave the band. There is absolutely no way we can condone his assault conviction. Domestic violence and abuse of any kind is totally unacceptable.

''As soon as we found out about the charges made against Tom, we as a band made the decision that we could no longer work with him.

''Unfortunately we had to hold back this information until he was found guilty in court.

''We were led to believe that Tom would hold his hands up and in his statement tell everyone what he'd done but he chose not to, misleading a lot of fans.

''Ultimately, as much as Tom has hurt us all, we're not the victims in all of this. Domestic violence is something that can never be excused.''

The musician has been given an 18-month community order and will be required to complete five days of rehabilitation.

He's also been ordered to pay a £90 victim surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs, although no restraining order has been imposed by the court.

Prior to appearing in court, Tom announced he was ''stepping down from Kasabian by mutual consent''.

The 'Club Foot' rockers said in a statement: ''Tom has struggled with personal issues that have affected his behaviour for quite some time and now wants to concentrate all his energies on getting his life back on track.

''We will not be commenting further.''

Tom also addressed his exit on Twitter.

He wrote on the micro-blogging platform: ''Following today's announcement I just wanted to let you all know that I am doing well. I'm in a really good place now. Thanks for all your love and support. I'll be seeing you all.''