WILD man of pop Pete Doherty was a model pupil when he was at school, according to one of his former teachers.

The 26-year-old Babyshambles front man, a former pupil of The Blandford School, has carved out a reputation for himself as a drugtaking layabout in recent years.

But speaking in a national newspaper, Paul Williams, deputy head of Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College in Bedworth, Warwickshire, said it was not the Pete they remembered.

Mr Williams said that when Pete transferred to the college from The Blandford School in 1994 a compliments slip accompanying his records read: "Our loss - your gain."

Mr Williams said that Doherty always showed respect for teachers, describing the star as "friendly, good-natured and an exceptional student who made friends easily and quickly". And he was no dunce, achieving four A-Levels, two of which were grade A.

His GCSE results in geography, history, English language and literature, science, German, French, maths and art were also "pretty impressive", according to teachers.

The former front man of the Libertines was thrown out of the group by his fellow band members after developing an addiction to class A drugs.

The bisexual singer went on to form his own group Babyshambles, which has enjoyed some success. But he is more famous for his on-off relationship with supermodel Kate Moss.

Recently "Potty Pete", as he was dubbed by Kate's daughter Lila Grace, was detained and fined after being caught smuggling class A drugs into Norway shortly before a Babyshambles performance at the Oya rock festival.

Doherty's performance of T-Rex's song Children of the Revolution with Sir Elton John at Live 8 was widely panned after he stumbled around the stage and forgot the lyrics.

Among the critics was Blur star Damon Albarn, who said he was thinking of starting a campaign called Make Doherty History.

Did you go to school with Pete Doherty? Call the Echo newsdesk on 01202 411297.

First published: August 24, 2005