Pete Doherty's 'heartbroken' Babyshambles band

Nov 15, 2007, 7:30 GMT

Pete Doherty's recent heroin relapse left his Babyshambles bandmates "heartbroken".

Bassist Drew McConnell revealed the band were left shocked and disappointed by reports Pete had been filmed injecting himself with the illegal substance earlier this month, but insists the troubled singer is still "in the best place he's been for a long time".

Drew said: "When I first heard about the reports I thought they were going to dig up old footage. It was heartbreaking when I saw it.

"He's still more than capable of getting clean. He's in the best place he's been for a long time"

The footage was reportedly filmed in Pete's home in Wiltshire on November 2 after Pete returned from the MTV Europe Music Awards in Germany, where he claimed he had been clean for weeks.

Drew insists the band - which also includes drummer Adam Ficek and guitarist Mick Whitnall - fully support Pete, and claims he feels "wretched and distraught" at letting them down.

He added to NME magazine: "Pete feels wretched about the whole thing. He's really distraught and embarrassed about the video. It's like, if it's 4am and you take a s**t outside a pub, you feel like a c*** the next day. But if someone filmed it and put it on the internet you'd be mortified!

"He feels wretched about the whole affair, the poor b*****d."

A spokesman for Babyshambles' record company EMI said last week: "Peter sadly relapsed and is now looking to check himself back into a rehab clinic.

"He realises that he has not only let himself down but has let down those who trusted and encouraged his efforts."

Babyshambles' eight-date UK arena tour, beginning at Manchester's MEN Arena on November 22, is still due to go ahead as planned.

(C) BANG Media International