CityLife

Pete Doherty: My Prodigal Son - Jacqueline Doherty

WHETHER you're a fan of music, an avid reader of the red tops or just someone who occasionally catches the Ten O'clock News, you'll know the name Pete Doherty.

Co-frontman of The Libertines and founder of Babyshambles, Pete's spent more time than most in the headlines for his bemusing (and sometimes amusing) antics, be it for going AWOL from his own gigs, appearing in court on drug charges or for his high profile relationship with supermodel Kate Moss.

Pete's mum, Jacqueline, has quietly watched her son's descent into the dark world of drug addiction, but here she speaks out to set the record straight.

It reads like an emotional chat, and is far from expertly written, but there is a certain voyeuristic appeal to learning the private side of the headline-grabbing stories - to hearing the tale of a mother watching her young son lean more and more heavily on the self destruct button.

Even more so, it's an uncomfortable challenge to the idea that drug addiction is a bi-product of poverty (Pete, we discover, had a thoroughly middle-class upbringing and travelled the world), something that should give some readers food for thought.

What do you think? Have your say.

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