Pete Doherty jailed for 14 weeks

(REUTERS/Luke MacGregor)

Pete Doherty was sentenced to 14 weeks in jail today for breaching his probation order, affecting his planned Albert Hall and Glastonbury gigs.

A statement from the 29-year-old singer's record company, Parlophone Records, said: "Today, Peter Doherty was sentenced to a total of 14 weeks in jail for being in breach of his probation order.

"Unfortunately Peter has had to postpone his show at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 April. The show is due to be rescheduled and all tickets will be valid for the new date once it has been announced.

"Peter was very much looking forward to the show and would like to offer his sincerest apologies to all his fans and to all those concerned."

It was not immediately known whether he would be eligible for any remission from his term and he is also likely to miss his appearance at Glastonbury in June.

Doherty was handed a suspended jail sentence on 26 October for a string of drugs and a motoring offences.

The Babyshambles frontman was then given a four-month custodial sentence suspended for two years. District Judge Davinder Lachhar also handed him an 18-month supervision order and a 12-month drug rehabilitation order at West London magistrates' court in Hammersmith. She also ordered that the singer pay a £400 fine for driving with no insurance and a £75 fine for having no MOT certificate.

Doherty had pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine, heroin, ketamine and cannabis, as well as to a number of driving offences, after being arrested by police while driving a Jaguar in High Street Kensington, west London, at about 10pm on 5 May. Officers had found the substances on his person and in the car.

At an earlier hearing, Doherty had been warned that if he did not kick his habit he could be sent to prison. But earlier in October he was granted extra time for an after-care drugs rehabilitation plan. Judge Lachhar then agreed to an adjournment on hearing that Doherty had tested negative for drugs throughout a six-week residential drugs treatment programme and wanted to "give himself a chance" to recover, his lawyer, Sean Curran, said.

Over the previous year, Doherty had made several appearances in court over drug offences. In April, he was praised by a judge in east London for "more than co-operating" in the struggle to beat his addiction.

Today the judge said the singer was to be punished for his breach of time-keeping, non-compliance of his order (missing appointments with probation officers) and using different drugs.