Disturbing depictions of Doherty

Images of Pete Doherty in which he is depicted as dead have been unveiled by a Scottish painter.

The six pastels of the musician feature in a Glasgow exhibition by contemporary artist Peter Howson.

Howson, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction, said the pictures were intended to act as a warning against drugs.

He said: "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 Doherty said: "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."

Madonna is known to be a fan of Howson's work and in 2002 he painted a nude portrait of the star.

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