Pete Doherty has got to be the luckiest guy in creation. I mean aside from the unshakable addiction gene the guy’s carrying around. I don’t know how he does, it, but time and time again he lucks out and manages to avoid any serious jail time. I’m not sure if he does it just by constantly checking into rehab or if rehab is constantly imposed by the courts, but either way, he has yet to do any real time.

Doherty was arrested on Monday for a drug offense, again. This resulted in a breach of bail charge, since he’s already on bail and probation for other drug offenses. Though to be fair, it’s probably safe to assume that at any given time, Pete Doherty is under investigation for a drug crime. The police had 24 hours to bring Doherty before the court, and didn’t do so in the allotted time, so the judge had to dismiss the charges.

“Senior British police officers are tonight reviewing procedures after a bail breach allegation against singer Pete Doherty had to be dropped over a technicality. Doherty, 28, arrived at West London Magistrates’ Court today following his arrest yesterday in Tower Hamlets, east London. But the rocker later walked free after the charge was dropped because he was not produced before the court before the legal deadline of 24 hours.

“A police spokesman later said senior officers from Tower Hamlets were ‘reviewing processes to establish why Mr Doherty was unable to be brought before the court within the 24-hour timeframe. It would be inappropriate to go into any further detail until the Metropolitan Police Service is absolutely clear about the exact sequence of events,’ the spokesman said.

“He added that the law relating to the timeframe had been clarified earlier this summer. During today’s court hearing, which lasted just a couple of minutes, prosecutor Anjulika Vatish said: ‘The court has no jurisdiction to deal with this matter any more.’ She told the court that Doherty had been arrested at 2.35am yesterday.

“District Judge Susan Williams agreed that the court had no jurisdiction. She said: ‘Anyone arrested for a breach of bail must be brought before the court and dealt with in a 24-hour period.’ The singer, who did not appear before the court, left the building today wearing his trademark black trilby. Doherty gestured at the waiting photographers and then jumped into a green Jaguar and was whisked away.”

[From Ireland Online]

I’m not a fan of simply locking drug addicts up in jail, and I understand that doesn’t treat the real issue. But when a guy like Pete Doherty has been in more rehabs than there are leaves on a tree, I can’t help but think some cold hard time might do him some good. I think the guy needs a reality check. It seems like he’s either adamant about not quitting, or he’s so addicted that he simply can’t. There’s really no way to know – that’s something that only he really knows, though whether he’s aware of it is another story. It seems like the odds are pretty good he’s just going to repeat his cycle of drug and alcohol abuse until he dies. It appears that most people in his life have already written him off – whether that helps or hurts is hard to say. Theoretically it could be an incentive for him to change his behavior – but I really doubt much of anything will.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Pete at the V Festival this past weekend. Image thanks to PR Photos. Header image Thanks to Pretty On The Outside.