Depressed star Hatton hits rehab

RICKY HATTON has been suffering from severe depression for “several weeks”, his spokesman Max Clifford confirmed last night as the boxer was admitted to a rehabilitation facility.

Following a report in the News of the World alleging Hatton used “industrial quantities” of cocaine on a night out in Manchester, the former world champion yesterday consulted specialists about his condition.

Clifford explained that Hatton’s state of mind has been a cause of concern for some time, and that drug use is only the most recent manifestation of a much bigger problem.

“His father has already been talking to the specialists over the last few weeks,” said Clifford.

“He and others have been increasingly concerned about his depression and his drinking.

“He met with the specialist today for four, five, six hours and he was told that his depression is severe depression and that he has a drink problem. The drugs are quite recent and not actually the problem when we’re talking about degrees.”

Clifford said he was not yet sure how much time Hatton would spend in rehab or even if he would spend the night at the facility, as his treatment plan was worked out around other commitments.

While Sunday’s report in the News of the World was said to have left Hatton “devastated”, Clifford now thinks it could be a blessing in disguise.

“He’s been relieved by what they’ve told him,” he said. “They’ve said, ‘This is your problem, this is what’s wrong, and we can sort it out. You should have come to us a long time ago’.

“He’s faced up to it now even though he hasn’t for some time and it’s been there for some time.

“He wants to say a big thank you to everybody for their kind words and thoughts. He’s sorry he’s let everybody down and he is now determined to sort himself out.”