Doherty out of prison and heading for Wiltshire (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Doherty out of prison and heading for Wiltshire

8:23am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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Rock star Pete Doherty walked free from prison today and said he is heading home to Marlborough.

The singer, who has fought a long and public battle with drug addiction, served just 29 days of a 14-week sentence for breaching his probation.

He left Wormwood Scrubs Prison in West London at around 7.10am this morning.

Dressed in a suit and tie, he told the waiting media he was pleased to be out and was looking forward to having a rum and coke and spending some time with his pet cats.

Doherty was engulfed by a media scrum as he left the imposing Victorian prison.

Smoking a cigarette the tousled-haired singer borrowed a reporter's phone to call for somebody to come and pick him up.

He described prison life as "a lot of gangsters and Radio 4" and showed the waiting media a certificate confirming that he had passed a drugs test while inside.

Asked if he had taken any drugs whilst inside the prison, he replied: "Well, I knew it was going to be a bit rough to start with, with the overcrowding and the medical facilities although they do their best - they are good, they can't really cater for the average junkie..."

His release caused such a stir with passing motorists that a bus and a lorry shunted into each other outside the prison causing a long traffic jam.

As he walked through the prison's exit Doherty said: "Thank you Mrs Thatcher for putting me in the company of the most dangerous criminals in the country."

He said he had kept a journal while inside and showed the waiting press doodles and sketches he had penned in his cell.

Doherty used his release to tell the media that one of the people he had met inside prison was innocent and had been jailed for a crime that someone else had confessed to.

He said he would now be returning to Marlborough and was looking forward to having a rum and coke and seeing his pet cats.

He was then pursued by the press down the main road outside the prison before being finally picked up in a friend's car.

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