New York Dolls rocker Sylvain Sylvain has likened rock junkie Pete Doherty to his former bandmate Johnny Thunders.

The guitarist saw Thunders waste his talent away on smack, before finally passing away in 1991 – and says he sees the Babyshambles singer heading the exact same way.

He tells The Guardian, “Heroin destroyed everything for the Dolls. Heroin and needles killed my band. Johnny got married to heroin and it's a fucking shame because he was the best songwriter I ever met.

“I see a lot of Johnny in that kid Pete Doherty. He's a great talent. When I first heard one of his songs, 'Fuck Forever', I thought, 'Man, that is the most romantic thing I've ever heard a man say to a woman.' But heroin will take him away from the songs just like Johnny, because she is a bitch, and that's what she does."

Doherty appeared in court yesterday for an update on the drugs rehabilitation he was ordered to undertake after yet another bust, and told the judge he was getting an anti-opiates implant fitted.