Boy George - Boy George Fumes Over Community Service

LATEST: British pop singer BOY GEORGE has criticised his community service punishment for falsely reporting a burglary, insisting a fundraising concert for an AIDS charity would have been a more worthwhile. The star, real name GEORGE O'DOWD was sentenced in Manhattan Criminal Court, New York City yesterday (26JUN06), for wasting police time when he called them to his Little Italy apartment in October 2005 claiming he had been robbed. Upon arrival, officers found a large quantity of cocaine in the singer's home. In March (06), O'Dowd was given a conditional discharge plus a $1,000 (GBP550) fine and ordered to go on a drug rehabilitation programme. Following yesterday's hearing, the former CULTURE CLUB frontman said, "It would have been more useful to make 30 grand ($30,000) with a concert, rather than be prancing around in a park. I could have raised some money, could have done something that would have helped. "I don't care about doing cleaning up. My mum was a cleaner. I've always been a scrubber." O'Dowd has promised to dress up in "something loud" when he performs his community service in a New York park in August (06).