Brian Jones Sentenced for Drug Offences

On This Day 12th December 1967

On this day in history, Brian Jones, founding member of The Rolling Stones, appeared at Marlborough Street Magistrates’ Court in London to be sentenced for drug-related offences. The case had attracted enormous media attention, coming at a time when the Stones were already under intense scrutiny from both the press and the authorities.

Jones received three years’ probation and was fined £1,000 a significant sum at the time. The sentence reflected not only the legal charge but also the growing concern around his deteriorating behaviour and increasingly erratic lifestyle.

During the proceedings, three psychiatrists provided assessments that painted a deeply worrying picture of Jones’ mental state. All agreed that he was an “extremely frightened young man” suffering from suicidal tendencies. The pressures of fame, combined with substance use and his fragile temperament, were pushing him into a dangerous spiral.

Friends and bandmates had long noted that Jones struggled with anxiety, insecurity, and emotional instability. While he was an extraordinary multi-instrumentalist shaping early Stones classics with sitar, dulcimer, slide guitar, and more his personal life was in chaos. By late 1967, he was missing performances, clashing with authorities, and withdrawing from the band he helped create.

The court’s decision allowed him to avoid prison, but it did little to address the deeper issues consuming him. Within just 18 months, Brian Jones would be ousted from the Rolling Stones. Weeks later, in July 1969, he would be found dead at his home in Sussex at the age of 27 becoming the earliest rock and roll member of what would later be called the “27 Club.”

On my Rock & Roll Tour of Soho, we explore the streets, clubs, studios and scandals that shaped The Rolling Stones in their early years.

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