Editing Sid Vicious (section)

== Assault on Todd Smith ==
By December, Vicious had started dating rocker [[Judy Nylon]] as well as fellow drug addicts Connie Gripp (ex-girlfriend of [[Dee Dee Ramone]]) and Michelle Robinson, an aspiring actress. On 5 December 1978, Vicious went to the [[Hurrah (nightclub)|Hurrah]] nightclub with Boothe, photographers David Still and Peter Kodick Gravelle, and the comedian and drug-dealer [[Rockets Redglare]] who had appointed himself Vicious's bodyguard. Playing that night was [[Skafish]]; their drum roadie, Tarrah, was the girlfriend of Todd Smith ([[Patti Smith]]'s brother). Vicious began flirting with Tarrah. She rebuffed him and he pinched her. Smith told him to back off and Vicious smashed a beer bottle and jammed it into Smith's face. Smith required five stitches. Redglare told police that Smith provoked Vicious, that the bottle broke in Vicious's hand and, producing the glass shards, said that Smith's wound was the accidental result of flying glass. On 7 December, Vicious was arrested and charged with assault.<ref name=Savage>{{cite book |last=Savage |first=John |title=England's Dreaming |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |year=2005}} p.116</ref> The judge agreed that Vicious had broken the terms of his previous bail and sent him to [[Rikers Island]], where he underwent opiate detoxification. While he was in Rikers, Anne Beverley brought Robinson to visit her son.<ref name="auto4">{{cite web |last1=Barcach |first1=Ann Louise |title=Another Break for Sid Vicious, Jan 1979 |url=https://www.bardachreports.com/another-break-for-sid |website=bardachreports.com |publisher=Bardach Reports |access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref>

On 18 January, Vicious appeared in court, represented by Jim Merberg. To everyone's surprise, the judge, James Leff, not only released Vicious on $10,000 bail, but reduced his previous bail conditions—he now had to report to the Homicide Unit only three days a week and did not have to appear at the methadone centre at all. Leff applied one condition: that Vicious not frequent night clubs.<ref name="auto4"/>

While it was widely reported, including by Rotten, that [[Mick Jagger]] paid Vicious' bail, that was untrue; Virgin Records continued to pay his legal fees. Anne Beverley, who was in court with Robison, was happy with the outcome, telling reporters "Now the public will know he is a good boy."<ref name="auto4"/>