Pete Doherty was so ashamed of almost killing one of his cats following a drug-fuelled impulse, that he vowed to give up his bad habits.

The singer’s moment of clarity came after he was about to attack one of his beloved feline friends.

He says: "I got a shovel and was going to kill one of the cats. That was when I was, like, you know, 'I'm a bit of a mess'. It was a bit of a crazy time."

Doherty was released from London's Wormwood Scrubs prison last week after serving 29 days of a 14 week sentence for violating his probation, brandishing a certificate showing he was free of drugs.

It's not the first time Doherty and his cats have hit the headlines. In September last year, he was criticised for appearing to force a kitten to smoke crack from a specially-modified pipe.