Yahoo Finance Justin Bieber marks 7 years since DUI arrest in emotional message
Justin Bieber has marked seven years since his arrest for driving under the influence in an emotional message.
On 23 January 2014, the singer was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drink or drugs, resisting arrest and driving with an invalid licence, after apparently drag racing on a street in Miami, Florida.
Bieber, who is a Christian, said "God has brought me a long way" as he reflected on his past in a post to Instagram where he shared a photo of himself being escorted in handcuffs.
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"7 years ago today I was arrested, not my finest hour," the 26-year-old wrote. "Not proud of where I was at in my life. I was hurting, unhappy, confused, angry, mislead, misunderstood and angry at god.. I also wore too much leather for someone in Miami.
"All this to say God has brought me a long way. From then til now I do realize something.. God was as close to me then as he is right now. My encouragement to you is to ‘let your past be a reminder of how far god has brought you.
"Don’t allow shame to ruin your “today” let the forgiveness of Jesus take over and watch your life blossom into all that God has designed you to be. LOVE YOU GUYS WITH MY WHOLE HEART."
At the time, then 19-year-old Bieber's infamous smiling mugshot went viral. Prosecutors dropped the charge after the singer made a donation of 50,000 US dollars (about £42,000) to a youth charity as part of a plea deal.
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Last year, the Sorry hitmaker opened up on the extent of his drug addiction which started after he began smoking cannabis at 13 years old.
Eventually moving on to harder drugs, he said his security team would check his pulse and breathing throughout the night as he feared he would die from drug abuse due to ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushroom binges.
Bieber is now married to model Hailey Baldwin, with both of them previously stating how their Christian faith is important in their relationship.
With additional reporting by PA.
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