British singer Boy George was spared a possible US prison sentence today after a cocaine possession charge against him was dropped but he was ordered to go on a drug rehabilitation programme.
The Eighties pop icon was fined $1,000 dollars under a plea bargain agreed in a New York court which saw him admit wasting police time by falsely claiming his apartment there had been burgled last year. He must also do five days of community service in the city, and have treatment at the Clouds rehab centre in Salisbury, Wiltshire. The 44-year-old star, who appeared at Manhattan Criminal Court under his real name of George O'Dowd, had maintained he was innocent of criminal possession of a controlled substance, the charge which was dismissed today. He was arrested on October 7 after officers called to his rented Little Italy apartment in the early hours of allegedly found a small amount of cocaine there. O'Dowd, who was given a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to a count of third-degree false reporting of an incident, said he was "relieved and happy" with the outcome. Had he been found guilty of the drug charge, he could have been jailed for up to five-and-a-half years.