Pete Doherty incites violence

21 Aug 2008 

Rocker PETE DOHERTY has been accused of causing fights at his concerts by deliberately whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
 
Police say the controversial singer, who fronts British band Babyshambles, creates a "whirlpool" effect among fans at his gigs by changing the tempo of his songs.
 
This causes a highly-charged atmosphere that leads to violence breaking out, according to a spokesman for Wiltshire Police in the U.K.
 
As a result, officials in Wiltshire refused to issue a licence for one night of the Moonfest festival later this month (Aug08) because Babyshambles were booked to play.
 
Outraged organisers have since scrapped the entire event - and have labelled the decision to stop Doherty performing as "draconian".
 
Magistrates took action under the 2003 Licensing Act after hearing from police that fans were likely to cause trouble.  A Wiltshire Police spokesperson says, "We have carried out an analysis of what Doherty does. His band speed up and then slow down the music and create a whirlpool effect in the crowd.
 
"Then the crowd starts fighting. We became concerned because the (Moonfest) organiser did not appear to have due cognisance of all the risks."
 
In a statement, a spokesman for Moonfest says, "With Pete and Babyshambles being our headlining act for the weekend, this draconian action taken by the Police make it impossible to run the event at the end of August. To say we are surprised and devastated would be an understatement."