Shane MacGowan attacked in London pub [updated]

Shane MacGowan suffered cuts and a fractured cheekbone on Monday April 20 after being attacked with a metal bar in the toilets of a London pub.

According to a regular at The Joiners Arms in Soho: "This was a totally unprovoked attack on a defenceless man. He was just having a quiet drink with his mates and had been chatting to one of the blokes who jumped him."

MacGowan's friends chased and held on to the alleged attackers until police arrived. One, a 23-year-old London scaffolder, Liam McInerney, has subsequently been charged with grievous bodily harm and released on bail.

The rather more positive news is that his former bandmate Philip Chevron is currently mixing a Pogues live album which is due later in the year.

Meanwhile the Mayor of Baltimore, Martin O'Malley has issued a statement to hotpress.com stating that the "Martin O'Malley" that supposedly signed the ongoing online petition regarding Shane MacGowan's business relationship with Joey Cashman is NOT the Mayor of Baltimore.

The Mayor's office clarified to hotpress.com that while Mayor O'Malley was a big fan of Shane MacGowan, he would not comment on the matter and that it was a "private individual's personal matters".

Mayor O'Malley has genuine rock 'n' roll credentials however as the front man of 7 piece O'Malley's March. In fact the band are making their way to our shores in July where - if their US shows are anything to go by - they'll close their set with the MacGowan penned, Pogues classic, "Streams of Whiskey".