You can all relax, because Pete Doherty is not going to prison, as you, and indeed he, might have feared.
Appearing at Ealing Magistrates' Court yesterday, the Babyshambles frontman was sentenced to a twelve month community order, and ordered to take part in a rehabilitation programme, after entering a plea of guilty to a total of seven charges of drug possession in relation to three separate arrests.
Magistrate Ann McLaughlin said: "You must submit to treatment with a view to ending your dependency on drugs." The year long rehab programme will require the singer to attend a drug centre and submit to monthly checks. He has been warned that failure to comply with that programme could lead to a custodial sentence.
Following the hearing, Babyshambles member Adam Ficek said of his band mate, who had been on remand since his arrest in Whitechapel on 26 Jan: "We are thrilled for him and for the band and we can go forward now." Bassist Drew McConnell added: "We did not speculate [on the sentence]. We were very nervous about what the sentence would be but it's a result. We can't wait to see Pete and make plans for the rest of the year."
McConnell continued: "I think some people just have a natural knack for summing up how a whole generation feels with a few words and a few notes. He still finds it hard to believe that he has that talent sometimes."