Pete Doherty fined for taking heroin into court

While his former girlfriend Kate Moss has been stealing the headlines for getting engaged to The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince, the Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty has been keeping his head down. Not any more.

Not only did he appear in court yesterday on a charge of heroin possession, but his name has been linked to the death - from a suspected drugs overdose - of a young member of the Goldsmith family with whom Doherty may or may not have had a fling.

Doherty received his fine when he appeared at Gloucester Crown Court on a charge of entering the same court a month ago carrying heroin.

The incident occurred when, appearing on a motoring charge before Christmas, he was ordered by a security officer to turn out his pockets. He did so - apparently unaware that they held 13 'wraps' of heroin.

His lawyer, Bruce Clark, was at pains to persuade the court that the singer was not "taking the mickey" but had been handed a coat in his rush to get to court on time and hadn't checked the pockets. "He feels very stupid. This was no mickey-take, it was a mistake."

Judge Joti Boparai said: "This matter is serious, it is a class A drug" but added, "I am sure this was simply stupidity on your part."

Doherty was fined £750 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs. The judge declined to make any order regarding treatment because Doherty is already undergoing rehabilitation privately.

After Clark said the rehab was going well, Judge Boparai responded: "He does look better in physical appearance. Last time I saw him he was sweating quite profusely."

Doherty's court appearance came shortly after it emerged that a young woman who had become part of his circle, Robin Whitehead, was found dead in a London flat rented by Doherty's close friend Pete Wolfe, sometimes known as "the wolfman".

Whitehead, a 27 year-old photographer and filmmaker, was a member of the Goldsmith family: her grandfather was Teddy Goldsmith, founder of The Ecologist magazine, while her great uncle was the billionaire James Goldsmith, father of Jemima and Zac Goldsmith.

She was discovered dead on Sunmay evening after a 999 call was made from Wolfe's flat in east London. According to friends, she had spent the last 10 days of her life working on a documentary about Doherty. She was staying with Wolfe and his girlfriend and Doherty, said to be a regular visitor to the flat overlooking Hackney Marshes, had been there the night before.

A gossip columnist claimed last year that she and Doherty had had a fling. However, asked about Whitehead's death outside Gloucester Magistrates' Court yesterday, Doherty claimed to know nothing about it.

There was speculation last night that Doherty could be interviewed by police if the post-mortem on Whitehead confirms a drugs overdose. ·