PETER DOHERTY arrived at court yesterday in true rebel rock star-style — poking through a car sun roof with a cigarette nonchalantly hanging from his mouth while strumming a sunburst Gibson guitar as his adoring teenage fans flocked around him.

Three hours later the estranged frontman for the Libertines walked free from the London court, relieved and celebrating his liberty.

The troubled 25-year-old singer, who admits being addicted to crack cocaine and heroin, was given a four- month jail sentence, suspended for one year, after being found in possession of a flick knife with a four-inch blade.

The joint songwriter for the successful indie-rock band was stopped by police near his home in Stepney, East London, in June, after driving erratically in his Vauxhall Astra car. Fearing that he was high on drugs, the officers searched him and discovered the knife.

Doherty had bought the weapon, from which he removed the tip of the blade, in Thailand, where he had been attending a monastery on his third unsuccessful attempt to kick his drug habit. Within a few hours of returning to Britain he was arrested. He admitted possessing an offensive weapon.

Sentencing him at Thames Magistrates Court in East London, Malcolm Read, the district judge, said that Doherty should consider himself a fortunate man for escaping a jail sentence after carrying a “vicious” weapon. As 17 fans and Jacqueline Doherty, his 50-year-old mother, packed the small public gallery, the court heard how Doherty, who looked nervous and often crossed his fingers while sitting in the dock, had experienced great difficulty coming to terms with his celebrity status after the band shot to fame last year.

Frank Brazell, his solicitor, said that Doherty had experienced a personal and professional crisis when he fell out with Carl Barat, the singer with the Libertines. They have just produced a second album, which is tipped to reach number one in the charts, but Doherty remains barred from playing live concerts until he gives up drugs.

Doherty, who was wearing an ill-fitting suit with a black tie, breathed a sigh of relief as he was released from the dock, kissed and hugged his mother before waving at his fans, who had earlier twice been scolded by the judge for whispering and giggling in court. Asked how he felt about the suspended sentence, Doherty said: “The judge had me worried there for a second.”

In the current sanitised world of manufactured pop bands, Doherty’s self-destructive streak is a throwback to the tragic demise of rock legends including Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.

Doherty’s drug addiction emerged 19 months ago. He has attended rehabilitation three times in an attempt to beat his habit. On each occasion he failed. He went to the Priory clinic but checked out after a week, insisting that he did not have a problem. His last attempt saw him travel to Thailand where he sought help from monks at the Thamkrabok monastery. But his homeward journey took him to Bangkok where temptation proved too much. His strained relationship with Barat, the Libertines ’ other front man, culminated with Doherty burgling his fellow musician’s home last year after he was dropped from a European tour due to his unreliability.

Doherty served two months in Wandsworth Prison, where he relayed his experiences to his fans by posting poetic bulletins on his website.

Barat and Doherty’s love-hate relationship is at the centre of many of the songs they have co-written and the pair, who were childhood friends, have matching tattoos baring the band’s name. On his release from jail Doherty rejoined the band but his drug problem and erratic behaviour saw him kicked out again.

Barat, 26, eventually insisted that tough love was the only option and ruled that Doherty could only return to the band if he addressed his addiction. Earlier this week the Libertines, complete with Doherty, released their second album and the single Can’t Stand Me Now reached number two in the charts.

The song chronicles the frontmen’s tempestuous relationship and makes reference to the Doherty’s addiction to “brown”, a reference to heroin. Despite rumours of a band reunion at Reading Festival last week, Doherty was barred from entering the backstage area and did not perform.

As he left court he shouted: “Justice was done and I am grateful for all the love.”

He was bustled into the back of a silver Saab car and whisked away. Mick Jones, a former member of the Clash, who produced both the Libertines’ albums, said: “I’m very pleased and relieved. Tell Pete to stay free.”

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