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Pop star George Michael had a cocktail of drugs in his system
when he was arrested in his car last year, a London court has
heard.
The singer,
whose real name is George Panayitou, has admitted driving while
unfit, but says his condition was due to "tiredness and
prescribed drugs".
The
43-year-old was arrested in October 2006 after motorists
reported a driver slumped over the wheel of a Mercedes at
traffic lights in north London.
Sentencing
has been put back to 8 June.
Jail
sentence
Prosecutor
Andrew Torrington told Brent Magistrates' Court in north London
that tests showed a therapeutic quantity of an anti-depressant
in the singer's system as well as the illegal dance club drug
GHB.
Cannabis was
also found in his blood, but the prosecution do not maintain
that this was the cause of his intoxication.
The star's lawyer claimed a sleeping drug was the most likely
explanation for his condition.
He also told
the court it was common for traces of GHB to be found in the
blood even if the drug had not been taken.
Prosecutors
agreed that, while GHB is a banned class C drug, its effects
could be created by other substances which are not controlled,
including a drug called GBL.
District
Judge Katherine Marshall said the issue at stake was not the
drug involved, but the condition Mr Michael was in when he was
discovered in his car in October last year.
The BBC's
Ben Ando, who was at the hearing, said it was made clear that
the star could expect to be sentenced at the "upper end of
the scale for this offence".
Mr Michael,
who was not present, has already pleaded guilty to driving while
unfit under the influence of drugs, which carries a maximum
penalty of six months in jail.
Wembley
concert
At a court
appearance earlier this month, the former Wham! frontman
addressed District Judge Katherine Marshall directly, saying:
"I did something very stupid and I am very ashamed since
doing it.
"I'm
not used to defending myself in a position where I am ashamed of
something."
He added:
"I really have been very distressed by this whole thing. I
am perfectly aware that I did something very wrong and got into
my car when I was unfit to drive."
Since his
court appearance, Mr Michael has revealed he is addicted to
prescription drugs and believes the world would be a better
place if more people smoked marijuana.
He will
attend Brent Magistrates' Court to receive his sentence on 8
June, one day before he performs the first concert at the new
Wembley stadium.
'Delighted'
After the
hearing Michael said in a statement:
"I have
accepted throughout this affair that I was not in a fit state to
have been driving a motor vehicle in the early hours of 1
October 2006 and accordingly pleaded guilty to the charge of
driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs before Brent
Magistrates' Court on 8 May 2007.
"I am
delighted that at today's hearing the court accepted that the
proper approach to my case is that which I have always
maintained, in that I was unfit through a combination of
tiredness and prescribed drugs, and that I will be sentenced on
this basis.
"I
would like to conclude by saying I am really looking forward to
playing Wembley Stadium on 9 and 10 June."
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