Britney SpearsBritney Spears has been released from hospital in Los Angeles after staff decided she no longer posed a risk to herself or others.

After police were required to settle a “family custody dispute” at her home in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, Britney was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and placed on a 72-hour “lockdown” to evaluate her mental state.

However, she was released from medical care yesterday morning, after just 36 hours under evaluation, after staff decided there was no reason to hold her any longer. Doctors are also said to believe Britney may be suffering from a bipolar disorder rather than mental issues resulting from substance abuse and if that is the case, the hospital is not legally allowed to hold her against her will to treat the condition.

Jamie, who had been with his daughter since she was admitted to the medical facility in the early hours of Friday morning, is said to have broken down in tears just before Britney was discharged after he finally began to understand the reality of the situation.

A source told People magazine: “Jamie was really upset. He was in tears. When he got to the house [ahead of Britney’s arrival home] and realized the situation there, it broke him down.”

“[Jamie] thought he understood what was going on [with her but now] he doesn’t know what to do. Everyone is trying to figure out the best thing to do, but who knows what that is now.”

Britney’s mum Lynne Spears is said to have thought that “who” was friend, television psychologist, Dr Phil’s Dr Phil McGraw. On Lynne’s invitation, the talk show hosted visited Britney at the hospital just as she was leaving and he claims he spent an hour talking to the singer as she was packing up to leave. Other sources claim their meeting was for less than 15 minutes and he did all the talking because she wasn’t interested but either way, after the session, Phil said he is “very concerned for her” and “she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention”.

More claims

The Sunday Mirror claims Thursday night’s incident was sparked when Britney saw bruises on son Jayden’s legs. A source told the newspaper: “When the kids arrived, she says Jayden’s legs were covered in bruises. He’s a toddler and learning to walk so it’s not that surprising - but Britney was terrified he was being abused.”

“After a few hours [Kevin Federline’s bodyguard] Ronnie arrived to take the kids back to Kevin, but she went berserk and refused to hand them over. No one knew what to do and she got more and more stressed about handing the kids back.”

When Ronnie reached out to take hold of the boys, “that’s when Britney started to panic. She flew at him. She lashed out at him with both fists and caught him on his face and head. She was screaming at him to take his hands off her children.”

“Kevin’s lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan moved in to help Ronnie and tried to take hold of Britney’s flailing hand. She craned her neck and head towards him and spat straight in his face. Ronnie got between Britney and the boys to keep them apart. The boys were just stood watching everything. It was horrific.”

The News of the World adds that Kevin worried that Britney may shoot the boys with a gun he had given her a present during their marriage. The newspaper’s source explained that the “dispute” was the culmination of a week of increasingly strange behaviour from the star which had included habitually banging her head against the wall, taking large amounts of prescription and over-the-counter medication, and asking to “buy” custody of the children from Kevin: “Britney said that Kevin could have an incredible $100 million if he’d give her the kids and never see them again.”

“He’s used to Britney going off on one, but he knew from her voice that this was a whole other thing entirely. He hung up straight away and called his legal team in a panic. He told them that Britney was capable of anything and admitted that she still kept two handguns at the house - the pistol he bought her for a birthday gift and a black automatic Glock. The lawyers called the police immediately.”

“Kevin knew she was on the edge and might snap at any time. Knowing there were [at least] two firearms in the house, he wasn’t taking any chances - hence the massive police response.”

Kevin was temporarily granted full physical and legal custody of the two boys in an emergency court hearing on Friday. The order will remain in effect, suspending Britney’s visitation rights, until at least 14th January.