Keith Richards Assault Claim Denied

A claim that Keith Richards assaulted a Swedish journalist during an interview has been dismissed as pure "imagination” by the guitarist’s spokesman.

Newspapers today carry a story that during an interview yesterday Keith Richards physically attacked Swedish journalist Markus Larsson over a bad Stones review he had written in 2007.

"The meeting ended with the rock star threatening Markus Larsson and hitting him in the head,” adding that Richards said, "You're lucky to get out of here alive" reported Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

"The mood of the rock star quickly changed. His eyes got black and he was absolutely furious,” said Larsson.

However, a spokesman for Keith – who was also in the room during the interview – issued a statement saying "at the conclusion of the 20min interview KR jokingly tapped the journalist on the head after his questions got a bit silly.

"From the people in the room during the interview they would suggest that the writer has allowed his imagination to get the better of him.”