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George Michael sobs as he is branded a drug addict and sent to prison for smashing car while high on cannabis
By Tom Kelly
Last updated at 1:37 AM on 15th September 2010
George Michael wept yesterday as a judge told him he was a drug addict - and jailed him for crashing his range rover into a shop.
The singer was sentenced to eight weeks for driving after taking a 'dangerous and unpredictable' cocktail of cannabis and anti-anxiety prescription medication - but may be out of jail in a month.
A district judge told the 47-year-old he was being locked up because of his failure to tackle his illegal drug habit, despite previous ' wake-up calls' and convictions.
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| Jailed: George Michael arriving at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court yesterday |
Michael was a 'risk to a public', he said. 'Despite the resources at your command it does not appear that you took proper steps to deal with what's clearly an addiction to cannabis.'
Michael, who has blamed his downfall on his mother's death from cancer in 1997, wept as he was led to the cells. His partner Kenny Goss also sobbed.
Michael was taken to Pentonville jail, North London - a category B jail housing muggers, sex offenders and drug dealers. Boy George and Pete Doherty were previous inmates.
The singer found fame in the duo Wham!, but despite 11 UK number ones in his career, it never recovered from his 1998 conviction for 'engaging in a lewd act' in a Los Angeles public toilet.
He has since had cautions for cannabis and crack cocaine possession and a previous conviction for driving while unfit through drugs.
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| Michael admitted crashing his Range Rover while under the influence of cannabis |
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The singer was found slumped in his car in the early hours of July 4 |
In his latest fall from grace, he smashed into a Snappy Snaps photography shop in Hampstead, North London, in his £80,000 4X4, in the early hours of July 4.
Police found him at the wheel 'spaced out and sweating profusely', prosecutor Jonathan Efemini told Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.
Michael initially said he had not crashed and gave his name only as 'George'.
In a police interview, Michael admitted smoking a 'small quantity' of cannabis the previous night and said he also took a newly prescribed sedative and anti-anxiety pill, Amitriptyline.
He told police he decided to drive between his two London homes in Highgate and Hampstead and forgot he had taken the sedative.
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| The front page of today's Sun newspaper |
Yesterday, sitting in the dock of a packed court, the singer spoke only once to agree with the clerk that he would prefer to use his stage name George Michael rather than his real name of Georgios Panayiotou.
'I think that would be easier,' he explained with a forced grin.
Mukul Chawla QC, for Michael, told the court the singer felt 'shame and horror'. 'The prospect he could have put anyone else in danger is an appalling prospect to him.'
The QC asked for him to be spared jail, explaining that the crash happened as Michael struggled to turn his life around after years hooked on prescription medication to deal with his anxiety, depression and insomnia.
But District Judge John Perkins told the singer: 'Your record is of concern. It shows cautions for possession of cannabis twice in 2006, a conviction at Brent Magistrates in 2007 when you were disqualified from driving for two years for your first offence of driving whilst unfit, and again a caution for possession both of class A and class C drugs in September 2008.
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| Today's Daily Mirror (left) devoted two pages to the singer being imprisoned and (right) another of the Sun's headlines describing how Michael reacted on being sent to Pentonville prison along with 'I'm Your Van' | |
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| The Daily Star's coverage of the singer being jailed included this headline |
Mukul Chawla QC, for Michael, told the court the singer felt 'shame and horror'. 'The prospect he could have put anyone else in danger is an appalling prospect to him.'
The QC asked for him to be spared jail, explaining that the crash happened as Michael struggled to turn his life around after years hooked on prescription medication to deal with his anxiety, depression and insomnia.
But District Judge John Perkins told the singer: 'Your record is of concern. It shows cautions for possession of cannabis twice in 2006, a conviction at Brent Magistrates in 2007 when you were disqualified from driving for two years for your first offence of driving whilst unfit, and again a caution for possession both of class A and class C drugs in September 2008.
'You refer in the probation report to that conviction being a wake-up call.
'Despite the resources at your command, it does not appear that you took proper steps to deal with what's clearly an addiction to cannabis.
'That was a mistake which puts you and, on this occasion, the public at risk.'
He sentenced him to eight weeks, banned him from driving for five years and ordered him to pay a £1,250 fine.
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| Upset: Michael's boyfriend Kenny Goss leaving court after the sentencing |
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| Distraught: One George Michael fan wipes away tears outside the court |
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| A Serco security van takes George Michael from Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court to begin his eight-week sentence |
Earlier during the day, Mr Chawla said Michael had tried to turn his life around since the incident and had started writing songs again.
'For the first time in many years he has started writing again. His creativity, so long hampered by his drug dependence, is re-emerging.'
He had also personally paid for repairs at the Snappy Snaps shop in Hampstead near his home, his lawyer said.
The star had admitted possessing class B drugs and driving while unfit through drugs at a hearing last month.
Michael had been on his way home from a Gay Pride parade and two police officers found him apparently unconscious behind the wheel.
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| An artist's impression showing Michael in the dock in Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in north London yesterday |
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| The Snappy Snaps in Hampstead after the accident |
Prosecutor Penny Fergusson told the court last month that Michael appeared to try to get the car back in gear when he was roused by one officer banging on his window.
She said: 'Mr Michael looked at the officer with his eyes wide open and the officers could see his pupils were dilated. They opened the door and could see he was dripping with sweat.'
The court heard Michael did not initially respond to police and when asked what his name was, replied: 'George.'
Ms Fergusson said Michael was confused and when told he had crashed into a shop, added: 'No I didn't. I didn't crash into anything.'
When he got out of the car the officers found he was soaked with sweat, breathing heavily and had to be held up.
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Crush: The scene outside the court in north London as George Michael is led out of court |
Michael was handcuffed, arrested and driven back to Hampstead police station where he failed a test to find whether he was fit to drive.
He had not been drinking but was found to be carrying two cannabis cigarettes. Tests on a sample of his blood showed he had chemicals linked to the drug in his system.
The prosecutor added: 'He could not remember the route he took or crashing his car. He just remembers the police officer knocking at his window.'
Michael admitted smoking a 'small quantity' of cannabis about 10pm the previous evening and said he also took a newly-prescribed sedative to help him sleep.
| He told police he decided to drive between his homes in Highgate and Hampstead to meet a friend on the spur of the moment and forgot he had taken the sedative. Michael revealed at the end of last month that he was having professional help and 'counselling' for drugs. In a shock statement, he revealed how he secretly went on a 14-day detox programme the day after the July crash. Since then, he has been undergoing drug counselling 'several times' a week, he told fans in an open letter. The admision was the first time the star has tried to explain his increasingly erratic behaviour in recent years. He blamed his behaviour on ‘personal problems’ which had ‘clearly got the better’ of him - and admitted that ‘pride’ had stopped him seeking help in the past. It is believed the personal problems Michael was referring to stem from the deaths of his late boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa from an AIDS-related brain hemorrhage in 1993 and then his mother Lesley Angold Harrison, an English dancer who died from cancer in 1997. Until this year, Michael had ignored all previous appeals from concerned friends such as Sir Elton John and Bono to quit smoking marjuana. He had even appeared on television programme The South Bank Show smoking the drug. Michael, who was being filmed during his greatest hits tour, said at the time: 'It's a great drug, but obviously it's not very healthy. You can't afford to smoke it if you've got anything to do. Anything at all would be foolish.' | THE SINGER'S RAP SHEET |
| SEPTEMBER 2010 Crashed Range Rover into shop in Hampstead in the early hours on his way back from the Gay Pride parade. Arrested and tested for drugs. JAILED AUGUST 2009 Arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs after crashing into the back of a lorry on the A34 in Berkshire. Breathalysed and held for almost five hours. NO ACTION SEPTEMBER 2008 Held for possession of Class A and Class C drug after being caught by police in a public toilet on Hampstead Heath, a notorious meeting place for gay men. CAUTIONED OCTOBER 2006 Found slumped at the wheel of his Mercedes in north London. Pleaded guilty to driving while unfit. Banned for two years and handed 100 hours' community service. Also cautioned for possession of cannabis. BAN, COMMUNITY SERVICE APRIL 2006 Allegedly crashed his Mercedes into three parked cars near his north London home. Interviewed under caution but not charged. NO ACTION FEBRUARY 2006 Arrested for possession of a Class C drug after being found asleep at the wheel at Hyde Park Corner. Later said it was 'my own stupid fault as usual'. CAUTIONED 1998 Arrested by U.S. police for 'engaging in a lewd act' in a public toilet in California. FINE, COMMUNITY SERVICE |
He added that it could be a 'terrible, terrible drug' and that it could 'chill you out to such a degree that you could lose your ambitions,' but denied having a drug problem on camera.
In a later interview with on the BBC's Desert Island Discs, he admitted his cannabis use had become a 'problem.' He added: 'Absolutely I would like to take less, no question.'
But he added that he did not think his habit was 'getting in the way of my life in any way.'
However, he was at least believed to have cut down his habit from 25 marijuana joints a day a few years ago to eight a day now.
In an interview last December, he said: 'I was probably more stoned in those days. I was existing on a balance of Starbucks and weed. I probably do about seven or eight a day now.’
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