Doherty shown dead in art exhibition

A Scottish artist has commissioned a macabre new exhibition which shows troubled rocker Pete Doherty slumped dead in a range of disturbing poses.

Contemporary painter Peter Howson paints Doherty with his eyes closed and a sickly pallor, giving the impression the Babyshambles singer has passed away.

Howson insists he is using Doherty as an example - as he hopes the controversial collection will steer the rocker's fans away from drugs.

Howson, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction himself, says: "Pete Doherty is someone who has really interested me over the last few months. His spiral downwards reminds me of what I went through myself and I can identify with the way he is acting.

"Me wanting to paint him dead was pointing the finger at him and saying 'You can influence a whole generation'. He could, if he wanted to, become the right kind of hero."

A spokesman for the Babyshambles frontman says: "Peter Howson has never met Pete as far as I am aware, so I don't know where he's getting his inspiration from. We have not seen the drawings and I don't see how Peter knows that much about Pete's lifestyle."

Last month, Doherty walked free from London's Wormwood Scrubs after serving 29 days of a 14-week prison sentence for probation violation and drugs offences.