Reputation Leads To Suspicion After Syringe Found

It wasn't an easy week for British rock star Pete Doherty, who was questioned by Spanish authorities Thursday about a bloody syringe that was found on the EasyJet plane he was on from London.

It seems that Doherty, 27, has quite the reputation for troublesome behavior -- in fact, until May the drummer for the group Babyshambles has managed to net at least one arrest for each month of 2006. And it was apparently that reputation that sparked the interest of the cabin crew.

"During the flight our cabin crew became suspicious of a passenger who spent a lot of time in the toilet," a spokeswoman for EasyJet said. "When he came out they saw it was Pete Doherty. Members of the cabin crew then entered the toilet and found a syringe hidden in a bin, covered in blood."

"When questioned, Pete Doherty became agitated and aggressive," the airline spokeswoman added.

That was enough for the flight crew to radio ahead to officials at Barcelona's El Prat airport to have the police meet them at the gate.

Once police boarded the plane, the Daily Telegraph reports passengers claimed a member of Doherty's group slipped into the restroom, carrying a bag... but emerged with no bag to be found, which in turn led police to question all 142 passengers on board, and go through all of their carry-on baggage.

"Unfortunately, members of the Doherty party began throwing their bags around and swapping bags, and would not identify which bags were which," the EasyJet spokeswoman said. "They were not being cooperative with the police and they did not seem to be taking the situation seriously."

BBC News reports officers found nothing else suspicious onboard the plane... and one hour later, all passengers, including Doherty, were allowed to leave.

Doherty, along with Babyshambles, was reportedly flying to Barcelona to participate in a local music festival... but the group will have to find another airline to fly home on. Seems that while no charges were filed... EasyJet has since banned the group from flying on its planes.

FMI: www.easyjet.com, www.babyshambles.com