Pete Doherty banned from driving

Rock star Pete Doherty was given a 12-month driving ban and fined £500 today after he admitted allowing his manager to use his Daimler without insurance.

A lawyer entered a guilty plea on Doherty's behalf during a hearing before magistrates in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

Last month the singer's manager Andrew Boyd was given a 12-month jail term after a court heard he ran into a pedestrian delivering local newsletters then drove off at speed in the Daimler.

Boyd, 42, admitted a string of motoring offences including dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and driving without a licence or insurance during a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on February 24.

The Crown Court heard that 43-year-old Chris Corder, of Hadleigh, Suffolk, suffered "catastrophic" brain injuries and was left in a coma.

Prosecutor Steven Dyble said Boyd was at the wheel of Mr Doherty's car when he hit Mr Corder in Hadleigh last September.

He said Boyd's four-year-old son was in the back and told the court that police found the car in a body repair shop in London.

Magistrates were today told that Doherty, of Marlborough, Wiltshire, had been given a 18-month driving ban and a £2,050 fine in December at Gloucester Crown Court after admitting careless and drink driving following a concert.

Lawyers said the two bans would run concurrently and Doherty would not be able to re-apply for a licence until the 18-month ban had ended.

Prosecutor Gareth Davies told magistrates that the accident in which Mr Corder was hurt had "absolutely nothing" to do with Doherty.

Bruce Clark, for Doherty, said the singer, who will be 31 tomorrow, had believed that Boyd was insured. He said Boyd had also thought that he was insured.

Doherty was not in court today - court officials said he was not required to attend.

Mr Clark said Doherty, who was also ordered to pay £85 legal costs, was in Paris.

Magistrates' chairman Sue Pawson told the court: "We are treating him (Doherty) the same as we would treat anyone else."

Doherty was told to pay the fine with 14 days - Mr Clark told the court: "He has got means."