Britney Spears: no visitation for at least another month

The judge overseeing Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s ongoing custody case has ruled that Britney will not be able to have any access to her two sons until at least the next scheduled court hearing in a month’s time - but that ban may extend indefinitely after that.

After initially losing joint custody last October, Britney lost her twice weekly court-monitored visits earlier in the month after a showdown at her Beverly Hills home that ended with her being taken to hospital under police escort.

At today’s court hearing, two police officers involved in the incident ten days ago testified about what happened that night as did the court-appointed monitor and a bodyguard who had been present. Britney was expected to testify herself in order to help the argument that she should have some access to the boys but appeared to get stage-fright at the sight of a crowd of photographers near the court house.

She was not legally required to attend the session but had been advised to by her lawyers who believed that her appearance in court would help her case. She did not appear during the morning session which started at 9.30am local time but arrived after the lunch recess around 1.15pm. However, moments after stepping out of her car, she climbed back inside saying she was “scared”. The car then circled the block at least once before driving back to her Beverly Hills home.

Kevin Federline arrived at court first thing in the morning but did not take the stand during the hearing. His lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan though spoke about his involvement with the events on the night of the 3rd January.

After hearing the various testimonies, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon ruled that Britney’s visitation rights would not be restored and the temporary ban would remain in place until at least the next scheduled court hearing on 19th February. A full custody trial is set for April but legal sources suspect that the dispute will continue for as long as the children remain minors - another 16 years for Sean and 17 for Jayden.