British police give Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood formal warning for assault

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Rolling Stone’s Wood gets British police warning

LONDON — Rocker Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones was given a formal police warning Tuesday for assault, his spokesman said.

Spokesman David Rigg confirmed that Wood, who is 62, received the warning, or caution, after he was arrested earlier this month for assault near his home in Esher, in southern England.

Rigg said he was unable for legal reasons to give details of who made the complaint against Wood.

A caution is a formal warning given by police. It is not a criminal conviction but police keep a record of it for five years.

Wood’s private life has been in turmoil for more than a year since he started a high-profile relationship with Ekaterina Ivanova, a 20-year-old Russian cocktail waitress.

That relationship led to his divorce last month from Jo Wood, his wife of 24 years, on grounds of adultery.

The Woods have two children together.

When asked about Wood, Surrey Police said a 62-year-old man had been cautioned over a domestic incident. Neither Surrey Police nor Rigg gave any further details.

Wood issued a statement through his spokesman saying: “I am greatly relieved that this matter is resolved and look forward to 2010 very positively.”

Wood is a longtime guitarist with the Rolling Stones, one of the world’s most popular rock bands. He joined the band in 1976 and has spent more than three decades touring the world with the band, one of the most successful live acts in history.

According to Forbes, the band recently earned about $88 million in one 12-month stretch.

In recent years Wood has also found success as an artist, selling his paintings in numerous galleries.

His romantic troubles have provided ample fodder for Britain’s tabloids, who have run repeated photographs of the craggy, aging rocker cavorting with his young Russian girlfriend.

He was treated for alcoholism in 2008.