Elton John’s half-brother who condemned Rocketman biopic denies breaking lockdown laws by claiming unlicensed music event with 200 revellers was a ‘spiritual gathering’, court hears
- Geoff Dwight, 54, denies helping organise an unlicensed music event in Wales
- It is alleged he helped organise the event attended by 200 people on August 29
- His defence lawyer also argued the gathering was a ‘religious spiritual event’
- 58-year-old Karen Webb also denied having helped to organise the event
Sir Elton John’s half-brother today denied breaking lockdown laws by claiming that an unlicensed music event allegedly attended by more than 200 revellers was a religious spiritual gathering.
Geoff Dwight, the rock star’s 54-year-old estranged relative who criticised Sir Elton’s Rocketman biopic last year, is accused of organising an event attended by more than 30 people in Denbighshire on August 29.
Prosecutors allege the event was attended by more than 200 people, with police bodycam footage to prove it – and that such an event was banned by health officials during the pandemic.
Appearing at Llandudno magistrates’ court, Dwight and his partner Karen Webb, 58, deny the allegation. If they are found guilty of the offence, they will be subjected to a potentially unlimited fine under Covid-19 regulations.
Geoff Dwight, 54, is accused of organising an event attended by more than 30 people in Denbighshire on August 29 last year in breach of Welsh coronavirus regulations
Geoff Dwight has barely been in contact with his star brother (pictured)
Mr Fitzgerald said the event was advertised on Facebook but then cancelled and Webb took no further part in organising it. Her profile shows an interest in ‘psytrance’ and says in one message: ‘We never breached the rules.’
District judge Gwyn Jones granted Dwight unconditional bail until a trial in June.
Sir Elton’s half-brother has barely been in contact with the singer and leads an alternative lifestyle in the vale of Clwyd where he hand makes yurts and harps and organises music festivals.
He has previously questioned the portrayal of their father in the movie Rocketman, saying it rewrote family history.
The movie, which received a four-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival , depicts Stanley Dwight as a kind of monster, cold and scornful of his son’s musical promise.
He questions whether Sir Elton is good enough for a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music and scolds him for practising his piano scales.
Sir Elton was born Reginald Dwight and took on his new name in 1972
David Furnish and Sir Elton Vanity Fair Oscar Party in LA, February 24, 2019
But hitting out at the portrayal of Stanley last summer, Dwight, one of Stanley’s four younger sons by his second marriage, said: ‘That’s not the Dad I remember.
‘Dad had a big heart and he loved us all equally. He was incredibly proud of Elton and everything that he achieved.’
He added: ‘This coldness, it’s a million miles away from what Dad was like.
‘He was a product of a time when men didn’t go around hugging each other and showing their feelings every minute of every day, but he had plenty of love in him for all of us.
‘As a kid, my memories of Dad are of him laughing and larking around. If one of us was upset, he’d do something silly like pretend to be a chimpanzee or he’d start tickling us.’
The makers of Rocketman called the film a ‘fantasy musical’. Stanley Dwight died in 1991.
Sir Elton was born Reginald Dwight and took on his new name in 1972.
Earlier this year the Rocketman took part in an NHS video alongside actor Sir Michael Caine encouraging people to be vaccinated against Covid-19.