Doherty fined for drugs in court

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8483082.stm

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Musician Pete Doherty has been fined for taking 13 wraps of heroin to court in his coat pocket.

The Babyshambles singer was arrested before Christmas in the corridor of Gloucester Crown Court, just after he had been fined for careless driving.

Security guards saw the Class A drugs fall from Doherty's pocket.

At Gloucester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, District Judge Joti Boparai said: "Either this was sheer stupidity or a ploy to get more publicity."

Doherty, 30, was charged with possession of heroin and fined £750 with £85 costs.

The court was told Doherty was not "mickey taking" and had forgotten the drugs were in one of his many coats.

The court ruled that as Doherty was paying for drug treatment privately, it would not be worth taking money from the "public purse" to put him on a rehabilitation order.