Pete Doherty was told that he must attend rehab or go to prison when he appeared at West London Magistrates' Court yesterday. As previously reported, Doherty was due at the hearing to face charges relating to that incident on 5 May when he was stopped in his car by officers on Kensington High Street.
The judge, Davinder Lachhar, was surprisingly kind under the circumstances - Doherty showed up two hours late at the court, by which time a warrant had been issued for his arrest. The singer pleaded guilty to four charges relating to the possession of crack cocaine, heroin, ketamine and cannabis, plus two driving offences. It rather makes me think that the trust and praise of Judge Jane McIvor over at Thames Magistrates' has been a little misplaced.
Anyway, the West London judge was not quite so understanding, but did, as aforementioned, defer sentencing to allow Doherty the opportunity to complete a course of rehab. Lachhar told him: "If you go to this place to have detox and take advantage of it then we will see what sentence is appropriate when you next come. But if you do not I can tell you now that you will go into custody".