Such a list of convictions may have ended the livelihood of any "normal" person, but his music career has continued unaffected – and the music industry has been conspicuous by its silence over his convictions.
There has hardly been a whisper of concern over the drug-addict's own lifestyle or its influence on his young fans.
However, many people do not share the delight of the Camden crowd that the Babyshambles frontman is performing again.
The death of Amy Winehouse, aged 27, last week, another singer mired in drink and drugs abuse, has reinforced their anger at Doherty's "glorification" of drugs – and the music industry which continues to promote and profit from his work while doing nothing to change his behaviour.
Among those furious at the former Libertines singer's instant return are two families who lost loved ones, Doherty fans who emulated his squalid, drug-fuelled lifestyle or were sucked into his orbit.
"It is obscene that Doherty can still be rewarded for his drug-taking lifestyle," says Sheila Blanco, whose son Mark, 30, a Cambridge philosophy graduate, was found dead in an east London street in 2006 after a mysterious fall from a balcony following a confrontation with Doherty at a party.
"It gives out an appalling message to young people, telling them that it is cool to take drugs."
The music companies, which continue to make money from the trilby-wearing singer, have "lost their grip on morality," says Mrs Blanco, from Guildford, Surrey.
The fans' deaths, and that of the troubled Amy Winehouse at her flat in north London, have made tackling the drugs epidemic more urgent than ever, she says. She wants the courts to impose tougher penalties on drug users and end "celebrity justice" – softer penalties for the famous.
"Doherty's release after just six weeks shows that there is one rule for celebrities and another for the rest of us."
But it is not only the courts that have failed, she believes. "The police should close down the drug dens – they know where they are. And the record companies have a huge influence. The authorities in this country have been turning a blind eye for too long."
It is not just the authorities who stand accused.
The death of Winehouse last week created a debate over whether managers should have stopped her touring and performing, knowing that she was in the grip of addiction.
That certainly should apply to Doherty, says the father of another victim of drug abuse who worshipped the singer.
"Doherty should not be allowed to perform again until he has dealt with his addiction," says James McConnel whose son Freddy, a gifted 18-year-old, died of a heroin overdose after emulating his hero's addictions.
"It is wrong that Doherty's concerts continue even though his drug habit has not been tackled," he says at his home near Holt, Norfolk, where Freddy grew up.
"Amy Winehouse is yet another victim of the drugs culture and Doherty glorifies the taking of Class A drugs. He shouldn't be allowed back on the stage until he has ended his addiction.
"The record companies, the promoters and Doherty's managers all have a huge responsibility in all this. But they do nothing because they don't want to lose money," he says.
"If they are going to market him they have to control the image he projects. They should tell him simply: 'You can't glorify poison.
"Fame brings responsibility. His personal life cannot be separated somehow from his act and he needs to set an example to followers by getting better first."
Mr McConnel, his wife Annie and their daughter Daisy feel anger amid their grief. They do not blame Doherty for Freddy's death but Mr McConnel thinks he "could have been a factor in Freddy's downward spiral. Freddy had a propensity to addiction and the glorification of drugs fed into that," he says.
Freddy was found by Sarah, a family friend, a moment Mr McConnel has described movingly. "Sarah's distraught voice crying, 'he's dead, he's dead' down the phone will haunt us for ever. How our beautiful, precious boy could have gone from the happy baby who sang in his cot, to a pitifully thin, lifeless shadow lying in a filthy needle-strewn bed ..."
The parents of Robin Whitehead, a talented 27-year-old film-maker are understood to be similarly moved by Amy Winehouse's death and unimpressed by Doherty's return to the stage.
The granddaughter of the environmentalist Teddy Goldsmith and great-niece of the billionaire Sir James Goldsmith was found dead from a heroin overdose in a London flat in January last year.
The former fashion model was a friend of Doherty and had spent the last 10 days of her life filming a documentary about him. Doherty and his friend Peter "Wolfman" Wolfe, 42, were arrested after Miss Whitehead's death. Wolfe was jailed for a year for two counts of possessing cocaine and one count of supplying the drug.
Videos that Miss Whitehead made before her death showed another friend of Doherty, Alan Wass, a 30-year-old musician, smoking crack cocaine. He was given a three-year conditional discharge for heroin possession earlier this month after a judge told him: "Whatever emotions you feel now, I hope one is shame."
But none of that – or the death of Winehouse – appears to have changed the view of the music industry that Doherty should stay performing while addicted to drugs.
Paul Hutton, 49, a director of Doherty's promoters Metropolis Music, says Doherty does not write songs intended to "promote drug-taking" and has "every right" to appear in public. "Peter will have been in jail and has paid for his crimes like anyone else," he said.
"We have not been made aware of any concerns from police or authorities about future public appearances, nor would we expect that. He has not set himself up as an example to young fans. His private problems, serious though they are, should remain private.
"My children are 17, 14 and 11 and I would have no problems with them attending a Peter Doherty concert."
Other senior figures in the music industry who have continued to employ Doherty have been quiet over his prison sentence and mounting concern over the trail of deaths among his fans.
The singer has a busy schedule over the next couple of months and there is no suggestion that any of his gigs will be cancelled. Next month he is due to perform at the Reading and Leeds festivals. Neither Melvin Benn, 55, director of the festivals, nor his company, Festival Republic, would comment.
Steve Ball, owner of the Blues Kitchen and other London venues popular with celebrities – including Doherty's ex-girlfriend Kate Moss – refused to discuss his decision to book the singer.
There was a similar reticence from Paul Latham, 50, the UK chief executive of the music firm Live Nation, which owns Festival Republic and sells tickets for Doherty's concerts. He chose not to respond to questions from this newspaper.
It was the same story at the mobile phone company O2, which sponsors London's Brixton Academy – one of four places where Doherty is due to perform in September. Shadi Halliwell, the head of branding, referred questions to the venue owners, Academy Music Group, which refused to comment.
Across the industry the silence was deafening. EMI, the pop star's record label – which is keeping its contract with Doherty – declined to comment as did Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, two other giant music companies.
Andria Vidler, 45, EMI's UK president has previously claimed that EMI is concerned about media influences on children.
A member of an advertising industry committee set up to respond to a government report on commercialisation and sexualisation of children, Mrs Vidler said the company supported efforts to advise parents on the suitability of "content" for their children.
"It's vital that we stay up to date with the concerns of parents and ensure that we continue to inform and empower them," she said.
But critics argue that EMI should be taking action to address the concerns of parents of Doherty's fans. They reject the claim that the singer is not a role model to his fans.
"Doherty has a massive influence on young people," says Mr McConnel. "Pop stars are idolised by their fans. They copy their clothes and try to copy their lifestyles. And if the stars glorify drug-taking their fans will take drugs.
"Years ago we all knew that the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and other rock stars took drugs but they didn't go offstage and glorify it. Doherty does."
He dismisses as an "old myth" the notion that drug-taking helps artists' creativity. For every creative person who takes drugs there are "hundreds" who don't," he says.
"The crucial thing is not how creative you are when you are drunk or high but how much more creative you are when you are not."
Mr McConnel hopes that the high-profile death of Amy Winehouse will be a "wake-up call" to society and the music industry to reject the glamorisation of drugs. "At least then some good might come out of all the tragedy."
Mensch, who has penned chick-lit novels under her maiden name Louise Bagshawe, was part of the Commons select committee which questioned News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and son James over the News Of The World phone hacking allegations earlier this month.
About time too, Blair and New Labour got away with way too much and in my opinion never aswered to anyone or anything, and that can only be because they were all about what they wanted and not the country they were representing.
- Yvonne, West Midlands, UK, 31/7/2011 09:18
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