Post by Liam O'Reilly on Sept 2, 2006 19:01:04 GMT
The mother of troubled singer Pete Doherty has told the BBC she hopes his current stay in rehab will help him get over his drug addiction.
The Babyshambles frontman was told to stay at a clinic after pleading guilty to five counts of possessing drugs earlier this month.
Jackie Doherty, 52, told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour that it was the seventh time her son had been in rehab.
Ms Doherty has written a book about her experiences called My Prodigal Son.
Doherty, 27, has been fighting a high-profile addiction to heroin, and is facing the possibility of a prison sentence when he returns to court on 4 September.
"People don't take drugs, drugs take people," Ms Doherty said.
"They take their lives, their control, everything."
Ms Doherty said she did not have an inkling of her son's drug addiction, until a person close to his then band contacted her.
"I would never have known Peter was a drug addict at that point.
"He was clean, he was lucid, there were no needle marks, his eyes were fine. I'm a nurse, I missed every physical sign.
"It was only until we talked long into the night and finally he admitted it, to himself at first, then outwardly."
In her book Ms Doherty said watching her son battle drug addiction meant she "understood" why the father of soul legend Marvin Gaye killed his son.
Gaye, who also had a drug addiction, was just 44 when he was shot by his father during an argument.
"You wouldn't be able to understand this if you have never been through it," she said.
"Just this week I had a phone call from a mother whose son had injected into his neck and was unconscious.
"She felt at the time that perhaps it would easier to let him go to stop the pain. That's how a mother feels.
"I've never been in that situation, I actually don't understand that, but I do understand how Marvin Gaye's father felt," she said.
Ms Doherty said "never in a million years" would she have suspected her son would grow up to be a drug addict.
"Pete was a wonderful child, a happy child. Everybody loved him. He was popular with everybody, all sorts of different people, and had lots of friends.
The Babyshambles frontman was told to stay at a clinic after pleading guilty to five counts of possessing drugs earlier this month.
Jackie Doherty, 52, told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour that it was the seventh time her son had been in rehab.
Ms Doherty has written a book about her experiences called My Prodigal Son.
Doherty, 27, has been fighting a high-profile addiction to heroin, and is facing the possibility of a prison sentence when he returns to court on 4 September.
"People don't take drugs, drugs take people," Ms Doherty said.
"They take their lives, their control, everything."
Ms Doherty said she did not have an inkling of her son's drug addiction, until a person close to his then band contacted her.
"I would never have known Peter was a drug addict at that point.
"He was clean, he was lucid, there were no needle marks, his eyes were fine. I'm a nurse, I missed every physical sign.
"It was only until we talked long into the night and finally he admitted it, to himself at first, then outwardly."
In her book Ms Doherty said watching her son battle drug addiction meant she "understood" why the father of soul legend Marvin Gaye killed his son.
Gaye, who also had a drug addiction, was just 44 when he was shot by his father during an argument.
"You wouldn't be able to understand this if you have never been through it," she said.
"Just this week I had a phone call from a mother whose son had injected into his neck and was unconscious.
"She felt at the time that perhaps it would easier to let him go to stop the pain. That's how a mother feels.
"I've never been in that situation, I actually don't understand that, but I do understand how Marvin Gaye's father felt," she said.
Ms Doherty said "never in a million years" would she have suspected her son would grow up to be a drug addict.
"Pete was a wonderful child, a happy child. Everybody loved him. He was popular with everybody, all sorts of different people, and had lots of friends.