Pete banned from driving
2006-12-04 14:51
London - British rocker Pete Doherty smiled and hugged fans outside court on Monday after a judge ruled he will not serve jail time for possession of drugs including heroine and crack cocaine.
District Judge Jane McIvor ordered the 27-year-old Babyshambles singer to pay £770 in fines and court costs and banned him from driving for four months.
"I feel relieved," Doherty told reporters outside Thames Magistrate Court in London.
The singer from east London was arrested in April in possession of under two grams each of heroin, cannabis and cocaine just three hours after he was sentenced to two years of community service for previous drug offences. The drugs were found in the vehicle he was in and at his home.
Doherty was arrested again on August 7 with a crack pipe and small amount of crack cocaine, and pleaded guilty on August 18 to all five counts.
"He's not going to jail. It's amazing," said 16-year-old fan Georgina Raymond, who jumped up and down screaming into her cellphone, "I hugged him!"
In September, McIvor told Doherty he would not serve jail time for the charges if he continued rehabilitation, stayed employed and did not commit any other offences. She also complimented his song, The Blinding. Doherty did not break any of the restrictions the judge imposed.
"Hitting your pocket is the way of punishing you in this case," McIvor said on Monday. Doherty has been in and out of court on drug charges and spent time at the Priory rehabilitation clinic.
In November, Doherty, the on-off boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss, was fined £750 for assaulting British Broadcasting Corp reporter Trudi Barber outside the same court.
His drug habit gained international attention after a British tabloid printed pictures of Moss allegedly using cocaine at a music studio where Doherty and his band were recording. Moss was not charged.
- AP