A Scottish artist has unveiled six new works set for exhibition in Glasgow which depict Pete Doherty as dead.

Acclaimed painter Peter Howson, who has himself battled the demons of drink and narcotics, said that the controversial works were a stark warning against taking drugs.

They feature a particularly malnourished looking Doherty, with pale white skin and eyes closed, giving the impression that he's dead.

Howson 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 the Babyshambles frontman 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."

(by Scott Colothan)