George Michael Doesn't Want His Freedom

Singer George Michael has been arrested in the past for having drugs in his car and for soliciting sex in a public bathroom, but he'd yet to be arrested for drugs in a public bathroom - until Friday. Michael, 45, was arrested in a public bathroom in Hampstead Heath, a popular London park area. It is thought that he was in possession of crack cocaine. He was let off with just a caution, or a warning, which seems to be typical of this type of minor drug case in England - if Pete Doherty's storied record is anything to go by.

Michael has been unable to drive since May, 2007, when his license was revoked for two years for an October, 2006 incident in which he was found passed out in his car with marijuana. He was also busted passed out in his parked car with drugs in February, 2006, and at that time it was also pot and poppers, or amyl nitrite. If he was found with crack on Friday it looks like he's got a more serious problem and has graduated to the hard stuff:

The singer George Michael has been cautioned after being arrested in a public toilet for possession of drugs, thought to include crack cocaine.

"A 45-year-old man was arrested on 19 September on suspicion of possession of drugs in the Hampstead Heath area," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.

The singer was taken to a police station and given the caution for possessing class A and class C drugs.

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said drug laws needed to be "flexible".

Asked why Michael had been given a relatively mild punishment for the possession of class A drugs, Mr McNulty said he did not know the details of the case.

George Michael has been in trouble with police before

But he added that the law provides a wide range of punishments for possession of drugs, and "circumstances and context" had to be applied.

The BBC reminds us that Michael has been doing relatively well in the past year. He just finished his world tour in August, and has a multi-million dollar book deal with HarperCollins for his tell-all autobiography.

The guy has long had a penchant for public sex - he was busted by the News of The World in June, 2006 with a paunchy 58 year-old unemployed guy in a public park. Michael was first pushed out of the closet in 1998 after an infamous arrest for soliciting sex from an undercover cop in a Beverly Hills bathroom. There wasn't any mention of Michael attempting to score in this latest incident and it's possible he was only in the park to get drugs.

It seemed like Michael had his drug habit down to just smoking pot and getting wasted, but that he'd cleaned up after his arrests and comeback tour. Maybe he'll go to rehab now so he can achieve sobriety during his semi-retirement.

Story courtesy of Celebitchy