Suspended jail time for British rocker

LONDON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Ex-Libertines frontman Pete Doherty Wednesday got a suspended four-month sentence for possession of a switchblade, the BBC reported.

The troubled rocker arrived at Thames Magistrates' Court standing up through the sunroof of a Rover -- then played guitar surrounded by fans as the car stood in traffic, the BBC said.

In handing down the sentence, District Judge Malcolm Read noted Doherty had broken the knife's tip, indicating he knew it was a "dangerous" and "offensive" weapon.

However, the judge said, he was suspending the sentence for a year because of "exceptional circumstances" in Doherty's life.

"You have a position in your community which you should bear in mind at all times," Read told Doherty, who was kicked out of the Libertines earlier this year because of his highly-publicized drug use.

"I am very grateful, justice was done," the BBC quoted Doherty as saying. "I turned on the old waterworks and it seems to have done it."