Tao escapes charges after tussle

Taiwanese singer-songwriter David Tao Zee's year got off to an inauspicious start after he was accused of attacking a girl as he was leaving a New Year party.

Tao, who had a previous brush with the law when a taxi driver took him to the police station because he was too drunk to remember where he lived, held a press conference to set the record straight.

The singer (below) said he had been so drunk at the party that he had asked a friend to take him home, which is when he claimed the incident occurred.

'As we got into the lift, I felt something smack my neck, so I turned around and behind me was a girl in a cap, holding a magazine.

'Her hat was covering her face and, as I was drunk at the time, I reacted excessively and tried to take her cap off to check who she was,' Tao said.

The girl claimed to be the younger sister of Tao's ex-girlfriend and reported to police that she suffered injuries during the encounter. Tao admitted he argued with the girl but denied deliberately hitting her.