Moments after pleading guilty to seven drug charges in a London court this morning (March 23), troubled rocker Pete Doherty lashed out at reporters covering the appearance and kicked one in the arm. The reporter covering the court appearance for the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Radio One station was kicked amid scenes of what she said was “total chaos.”
Doherty was more than an hour late for his court appearance at Thames Magistrates Court in central London and had to battle through the crush of reporters and photographers to get inside. Once in the courtroom, he pleaded guilty to seven charges of possessing drugs including heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana, which police said they found on the Babyshambles singer when he was stopped once in December and again in January.
The 26-year-old is already under court supervision for drug charges. In early February, a judge imposed a 12-month community service order and required Doherty to submit to regular drug tests.
It was in light of that order that Sean Curran, the singer’s lawyer, today asked Judge Jane McIvor to put the matter off for six months so they could see how Doherty progressed in his fight to kick drugs. Curran told the court that Doherty already had done “good work,” though he admitted it was still early.
“I would not like the court to impose anything that would go against the grain,” Curran said. “He is a very talented man. Unfortunately, every move he makes has been in the spotlight.”
McIvor said she was reluctant to leave it for so long, and ordered him back to her court on April 20, “which will mean we will know the results of his next review on April 12.” She warned him that all options remained open for sentencing.
It was when Doherty left the court — wearing his trademark Trilby hat and a gray suit — that he allegedly kicked BBC Radio One reporter Trudi Barber in the elbow and knocked her microphone on the ground.
“It was total chaos here outside the court both when he arrived and when he left,” Barber said on Radio One. “Afterwards he leapt over the railings outside the court,” she said. “All of a sudden he lashed out, kicking me in the arm that was holding the microphone.”
Doherty then ran down the street pursued by nearly two dozen members of the media. He jumped over the trunk of a Jaguar sedan and into the driver’s seat, nearly colliding with another car when he tried to pull out into the street.
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