Pete segregated in jail amid 'plot' claims

Rock star Pete Doherty has been segregated in prison for his own safety, it has been revealed.

The singer is serving a 14-week sentence in Wormwood Scrubs, west London.

Earlier this week photographs were taken of the 29-year-old in his cell amid claims that he has been taking heroin in jail.

Pictures of Doherty taken on a mobile phone were published in The Sun. They showed him sitting in his cell wearing a blue T-shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, and talking to other inmates on a landing. The newspaper claimed that, despite being given the heroin substitute methadone, Doherty was also taking the real thing.

A Prison Service spokesman told the newspaper: "We will act on any intelligence which indicates drugs are being smuggled or abused."

It was reported that the singer had been signing autographs for prison officers.

Doherty was jailed for breaching the terms of his probation, having appeared in court several times charged with drugs offences.

Today (Friday) his solicitor, Sean Curran, confirmed a report on Sky News that Doherty had been segregated for his own safety. But he could not verify whether it was because fellow inmates were planning to attack him.

The report said prison officers had told Doherty of a "plot" against him. It said Doherty shared the segregation unit with 15 other inmates, but Mr Curran said: "There may be different parts to the unit, but he's on his own."

The Prison Service declined to comment on the location of individual inmates.