ANNIHILATION BECKONS THE DARK STAR OF ROCK

The Libertines' Pete Doherty Is Spiralling Towards The Classic Rock'n'roll Ending, Ravaged By Heroin and Dropped By The Band.

The blood-red walls reek of nicotine, the leather sofas are worn and tattered and any illusions of grandeur are left at the door.  Filthy McNasty's is a music-lover's haven where Pogues singer Shane MacGowan drank himself stupid and a letter in memory of Joe Strummer hangs on the wall.  Now the north London pub might have witnessed another broken dream: the last ever gig by The Libertines as they were meant to be.

Such a prospect seemed laughable a few months ago when The Libertines were hailed as saviours of British rock, heralding the most exciting revolution since punk three decades ago.  The band won countless awards and were lauded by critics.  But all the time their presiding genius, Pete Doherty, was hurtling headlong toward self-annihilation.

The guitarist, singer and songwriter is in the grip of a UKP250-a-day addiction to heroin and crack.  Three times in the last month he has tried rehab clinics, including the world's harshest situated in Thailand, only to drop out each time.  Last year he spent time in jail for burgling his own bandmate's house.  In a music business now sanitised by boy bands and Pop Idol , Doherty, 25, has proved that there is still a niche for the savage hedonism of the old-style rock'n'roller, a star that burns twice as bright and half as long.

'I think Pete's main problem is that he is fascinated by the dark side,' said Tony Gaskin, general manager of Filthy McNasty's.  'Part of it is just being an artist, but the other part is more dangerous.  There are people around him who are in a position to have a positive effect, but they haven't because they probably think what he's doing is just part and parcel of the rock'n'roll lifestyle.

'I don't know if Pete's problem is that he has demons or if he's just into what he's doing.  If he does have demons then he has to deal with them, but if he's just having fun hopefully he'll get bored of it.  I sometimes wonder if The Libertines' huge fan base is due to the possibility some think they need to make the most of every gig because Pete could have popped his clogs by the next.'

Since they played Filthy McNasty's last month, the other three band members - - Carl Barat ( guitarist/vocalist/songwriter ), John Hassall ( bass ) and Gary Powell ( drums ) - announced last week they are parting company with Doherty because he is a junkie.  They will play three summer festival gigs without him.  Barat insisted: 'He is and always will be a Libertine, and when he cleans up he'll be welcomed back into the band.' But there are many close to the group who fear the man who idolises doomed Sex Pistol Sid Vicious has plunged so far that 'cleaning up' will prove beyond him.

How did it come to this? The Libertines were signed up two years ago by Alan McGee - the man behind Primal Scream, Oasis and The Hives - as soon as he saw them.  They were billed as the next big thing by the NME even before their debut single, 'What A Waster', was released.  Their first album, Up the Bracket, was produced by Mick Jones, former guitarist with The Clash, and helped them beat the million-selling acts Coldplay and Radiohead to win Best British Band at the NME awards.  The journal described them as 'the most exciting band in Britain by a long way and probably in the world'.  Fame and fortune beckoned.

As a teenager Doherty had honed his writing style as one of Britain's youngest football fanzine editors, obsessively supporting Queen's Park Rangers.  The Libertines claimed inspiration from figures as diverse as Oscar Wilde, Queen Boadicea, Charles Dickens, Galton and Simpson and Chas 'n' Dave.  But instead of laughing, the critics took them seriously.

Things fell apart in May last year when Doherty was kicked out of the band for failing to turn up for a European tour.  Two months later, while the rest of the group were in Japan, he burgled Barat's flat in Mayfair and stole a guitar, video recorder, laptop, mouth organ and CD player to fund his drug habit.  He admitted: 'Yes, I'm a heroin addict, yes, I'm addicted to crack cocaine, and I don't know what to do.'

He was sentenced to six months in Wandsworth Prison but released early.  Barat met him at the gates and, hours later, the band were playing a drunken 'Freedom' reunion concert at the Tap'n'Tin pub in Chatham, Kent.  One reviewer noted: 'It's the once-in-a-lifetime gig that everybody will claim to have witnessed.'

Doherty was back in the fold for a triumphant tour.  They played to sell-out audiences and a second album, simply called The Libertines , is due out next month.  The early word is extremely positive, but those close enough to the inner circle to have heard it also fear it will be the group's last.  One source said: 'There is a fantastic feeling about the album but a sense it will be the last one, and they'll all go off and do their own things.  Sadly, it will be a testament to what they could have done and what they might have been.'

The Libertines are believed to be in despair after wasting money on Doherty's treatments in recent weeks, including an abortive stay at The Priory in London and at a clinic in France.  He then got a place at the world's toughest clinic, the Thamkrabok monastery in Thailand, with the help of the actress June Brown, alias Dot Cotton in EastEnders, whose godson, Tim, has been hooked on crack.  There he faced a pitiless regime, including beatings with a bamboo cane and being forced to drink a black concoction of vile herbs that made him vomit throughout the day to rid his body of impurities.

Gordon Baltimore, a former US Marine who runs the remote 784-acre centre, told one newspaper: 'For 30 days the patient is nothing but a robot.  We push the button to decide when he eats and when he sleeps.  Once someone starts his programme, the only way he can quit is when he's dead.  The method of punishment is the bamboo stick.'

Hardened heroin, opium and crack addicts can be heard wailing in pain at the clinic.  They are made to sing the Thai national anthem every day, and tapes of chanting by Buddhist monks are piped through to their cells every night.  They endure a diet of rice and water.  Once a patient has overcome his addiction, he must sign a vow never to take drugs again.

Doherty bolted before dawn on Day Three of his 10-day detox treatment and returned home, only to be arrested for reckless driving and possessing a flick knife.  The Libertines were forced to cancel performances at the Glastonbury Festival last weekend.  It proved the last straw, especially for Barat.

His on-stage relationship with Doherty has been key to the band's success, charged with furious passion as they sing into the same microphone, embrace, row and kiss.  But off stage, according to friends, it is utterly self-destructive.  One said: 'This is the most serious break-up between them so far.  When the album was being recorded, there were security guards provided by the management to keep them apart and stop drug dealers getting to them.  They did have one fight and came to blows.  They are still not on speaking terms.'

Doherty has struck out on his own and used his rented flat in Whitechapel, east London, to perform impromptu gigs for fans at UKP10 a time.  With a spin-off band, Babyshambles, he performed for 350 people at The Rhythm Factory near his home last week, with more gigs and possibly a tour to come.

Johnny Rhythm, head promoter at The Rhythm Factory, said: 'What happened when he came back from Thailand really put the wind up him.  I think the rest of the band couldn't take it any more and just wanted him to stop fucking around.

'Pete's the spark, the light behind the band, and The Libertines won't be The Libertines without him.  He's a little brat, but he's a genius.  I think he's hopefully learnt his lesson; he certainly looks much better than he did before.  He's 25 years old now and he has another two years to kill himself if he wants to be a true rock legend, but I think he has many good years left in him yet.'

Friends are increasingly concerned for the singer, who is allegedly selling lyrics in exchange for UKP150 fixes of heroin from dealers.  He is also under intense tabloid scrutiny, with the Sun recently reporting he was the father of a 20-month-old son by Lisa Moorish, a singer whose affair with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, just a week after he married Patsy Kensit, also produced a 'secret child'.

Anthony Thornton, the reviews editor of NME and an authority on The Libertines, said: 'Pete is at a lower point than he was a year ago.  He's hit depths he didn't even know existed.  He's not aware of how bad a state he's in, and the drugs make it worse.  He's incredibly impulsive, he doesn't take on responsibilities, he's unreliable and likely to do himself harm.

'When you meet him, he looks slightly out to lunch.  It's difficult to understand what he's saying, as he shifts from subject to subject with an internal logic that is flawless, but which I certainly can't follow.  He looks very pallid, which is exacerbated by his shaved head.  The band stand by him 100 per cent, but they obviously felt they had to do something.'

He added: 'It's sad, because he's one of the great British songwriters of the last two decades.  He is the real deal, a genius.  However low he goes, he will be writing something.  The thing about Pete is that every time you don't think he's coming back, he does.  You have to be optimistic because this is too important not to be.'