Police press Moss to return

Kate Moss: Urged to return to the UK
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Scotland Yard last night urged Kate Moss to return to England to face allegations of drug taking.

One of its most senior officers issued an extraordinary statement advising her to return for questioning over claims she snorted cocaine.

The 31- year- old model has refused to return home since a newspaper published pictures of her taking the drug with her then boyfriend Pete Doherty at a recording studio three months ago.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said he did not want to order a formal extradition but insisted the saga had gone on too long.

Mr Ghaffur, of the Metropolitan Police's specialist crime directorate, said last night: 'We would like to appeal for her to return, see us and tell us her side of the story.

'For everybody's sake, and for her to move on, the sooner she speaks to us the better.

'We wish for the investigation to take its course, and she would be dealt with very fairly and proportionatelyas would be the case with anybody else.'

Officers want to arrest Miss Moss over the allegations and have become increasingly frustrated by her refusal to return to Britain.

Soon after the drugs allegations surfaced in the autumn, she checked herself into a drug rehabilitation clinic in the U.S.

At the time her advisers indicated she would return to London before Christmas. But she has remained abroad.

Mr Ghaffur said he felt he had no option but to make a public statement calling on her to come home and face the music. The drugs inquiry is being handled by a squad under his command. He jointly holds the third most senior rank at Scotland Yard.

Miss Moss, who has a three-year-old daughter, is believed to be staying at her rented home in Los Angeles.

She returned there after a skiing break with her latest lover, 20-yearold songwriter Jamie Burke.

Mr Ghaffur said arrests were expected in the drugs investigation.

'The net on others involved is closing in, and there will be arrests,' he said.

'What we have done so far is conducted searches of the studios where the matter was filmed, in addition to obtaining the full digital recording of the incident, which is currently being closely studied by the investigative team.'

Miss Moss's decision not to cooperate with the investigation is thought to have been prompted by fears of embarrassing publicity.

Police plan to arrest and interview her under caution in the presence of a solicitor. If she admits taking the drug she is likely to escape with a caution.

But that would leave her with a criminal record, making it difficult to find work abroad, particularly in the U.S.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in