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Pete Doherty is given time to plead on driving charge
Last updated at 13:36pm on 11.08.09Rock singer Pete Doherty, who is charged with drink-driving after a gig, posed for pictures on a court steps today before being given until October to decide on his plea.
Decisions to make: Pete Doherty
The 30-year-old Babyshambles star appeared today for committal proceedings at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court, where he was met by supporters.
Wearing his trademark dark suit, along with a large crucifix, Doherty stood for photographs, signed autographs and even tried on one devotee's glasses.
Once inside, Kate Moss's former lover gave his name as "Peter Doherty", the name that appeared on his most recent album.
Doherty, from Marlborough, Wiltshire, was in court after being stopped in Gloucester on June 11 when officers spotted a car being driven erratically.
At an earlier hearing, he denied dangerous driving but he has yet to plead to a charge of being at the wheel of his Mercedes that night with 50 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system.
He has admitted two drug possession charges and to driving with no licence or insurance, all relating to the same incident.
Judge Joti Boparai told Doherty to be at Gloucester Crown Court on October 2 to answer the alcohol charge and to fix a provisional trial date for the dangerous driving. He may also be sentenced on the other charges.
At the end of today's hearing, Doherty also admitted another unrelated motoring offence, that he failed to tell Dorset police who was driving a Jaguar when a driving offence was committed in November last year.
He was fined £500, and was given six points on his licence and told to pay a £15 victim surcharge. He asked for, and was given, seven days to pay.
Doherty remains subject to some bail conditions. Earlier his manager Andrew Boyd put up a £50,000 surety which will be forfeited if the performer jumps bail.
But he no longer has to obey obey a curfew order tying him to his country home, Sturmey House, in Durley, from 7pm to 7am and he will not be restricted in his gigging.
He is also not to travel in the front seat of any vehicle. An earlier requirement to wear a medical implant "to attempt to prevent drug abuse" was withdrawn today.
The singer was arrested shortly after playing to an audience of 300 with an well-received acoustic set at the city's Guildhall.
His latest solo album Grace/Wastelands was attributed to Peter Doherty, rather than Pete, which critics saw as a sign of growing maturity.
