Liam Gallagher’s Son and Ringo’s Grandson in Court Over Grocery Store Fight

Gene Appleton Gallagher, the son of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and All Saints’ Nicole Appleton, and Sonny Starkey, the grandson of Ringo Starr, are friends, presumably because they have “being descendants of British rock royalty” in common. Now the pair have gotten into a bit of trouble with the law, as “descendants of British rock royalty” sometimes do. In what’s arguably the most English headline ever, the Guardian writes, “Liam Gallagher’s son and Ringo Starr’s grandson in court over Tesco affray charge.” Say it again, with feeling: Liam Gallagher’s son and Ringo Starr’s grandson in court over Tesco affray charge. What is affray, you ask? Join us on this Rather British Journey.

The pair, along with 19-year-old model Noah Ponte, appeared in court Friday to deny criminal charges over what was allegedly a very boozy and messy late-night altercation with staff at a Tesco Express in London in 2019. According to the Daily Mail, the incident stems from when “their friend Ponte racially abused the shopkeeper after he could not buy a can of beer at midnight—as it was after 11 p.m.—and tried to walk out of the store without paying.” The report continues, “Gallagher and Starkey were described as ‘windmilling’ down the aisle at a shopkeeper trying to stop them leaving.” All three pleaded not guilty to every charge sent their way, including affray, using or threatening “unlawful violence towards another” and causing “a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.”

While it might not be out of the ordinary to hear about another Gallagher in the news for getting into a drunken tiff, hearing about this Gallagher is new territory. Gallagher, Starkey, and Ponte will defend themselves again for the trial on March 9. There, presumably, they’ll hope the magistrate will remember the lyrics to “Don’t Look Back In Anger.”