Prosecute celebrity drug takers: Sir Ian Blair
Sir Ian Blair expressed his concern that Kate Moss had escaped prosecution
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Friday, 06, Jun 2008 05:09
The head of the Metropolitan police has today called for celebrities who are caught on film taking drugs to be prosecuted.
Sir Ian Blair urged the crown prosecution service (CPS) to increase the number of celebrities prosecuted and change its policy on the issue.
Celebrities such as Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty have both recently been caught on film allegedly taking drugs.
Supermodel Kate Moss was exposed in 2005 by the Daily Mail for allegedly taking class A drugs.
Sir Ian today expressed his concern that Moss escaped any form of prosecution due to a lack of evidence and claimed he was worried about the impact such behaviour had on "impressionable young people".
"I was quite clear that I expressed my concern over the Kate Moss story, and we did that same investigation and we hit the same issue," said Sir Ian Blair.
"And I think it's reasonable for a jury to be able to say, beyond reasonable doubt, 'I can see that behaviour, you convince me that you're taking talcum powder, because that's an unusual way to take it.'"
The CPS, however, rejected Sir Ian's criticism, claiming he had "totally" misunderstood the law.
"Any suggestion that the CPS does not prosecute celebrities is completely untrue," said Sir Ken MacDonald.
"We will prosecute when the police provide us with sufficient evidence to do so."