A family court suspended Britney Spears' visitation rights to her two young sons on Friday after the pop star was hospitalised in a fit of hysterics over their handover to ex-husband Kevin Federline.
The Los Angeles court commissioner handling the bitter custody dispute between Spears and Federline suspended the pop star's visitation rights at an emergency hearing, a court document showed. The document, first obtained by celebrity Web site TMZ.com, said Spears "visitation with the minor children is suspended pending further order of the court."
It added that Federline was awarded "sole legal and physical custody" of the boys. The order is in effect until January 14. The court order was issued as Spears, 26, spent the day in a Los Angeles hospital, apparently under mental evaluation. She lost custody of the boys in October last year but had been allowed court-monitored visits three times a week.
But at the end of their visit on Thursday night, police were called to her Los Angeles home when she refused to hand the boys back to Federline's representatives. Television pictures showed Spears being taken out of her house on a stretcher and driven to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in an ambulance after a four-hour standoff in which the pop singer reportedly locked herself in a bathroom.
Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee said Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance and was being detained and evaluated in the hospital. Us magazine, citing a source at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Spears had been designated a "special needs" patient and was under constant watch.
Another source told Us magazine that in the ambulance Spears had to be restrained like a mental patient and she "was going between laughing and hysterics." Cedars-Sinai declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.
Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan declined to give details of Friday's closed-door court hearing. "I am not happy about anything that has happened recently," he told reporters. "There are no winners right now." Spears' mother, Lynne, told the Access Hollywood television program: "Just say prayers."
Spears lost primary custody of Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, to Federline after her life spun out of control following their divorce, her stints in rehab, a bizarre head-shaving episode and reports of drinking and drug use. She is currently undergoing court-ordered random drug and alcohol tests and parenting lessons.