Custody battle resumes after Britney stretcher incident

Lawyers for Britney Spears and Kevin Federline were in court today in their child custody battle after the pop star was admitted to hospital in a bizarre incident that brought police and paramedics to her home.

Tara Scott, representing Spears, and Federline’s lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan, spent 30 minutes in private chambers over the custody case. They made no comments to reporters afterward.

A court hearing was scheduled later tonight.

Mr Kaplan said through his publicist, Michael Sands, that it would be “inappropriate for him to speak to the media... because of what’s happened last night, because of the serious nature of what we’ve all read about.”

Mr Sands said Mr Kaplan had been at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre after Spears was admitted yesterday, but he declined to provide any details about the 26-year-old pop star, and 29-year-old rap star Federline or their two young sons.

It was not immediately clear if Spears was still at the centre.

“Just say prayers,” Spears’ mother, Lynne Spears, told celebrity news show Access Hollywood by phone today.

Spears was taken from her home on a stretcher last night after police were summoned because she would not hand over her sons to Federline.

With paparazzi swarming the ambulance doors, Spears was whisked away, nearly three hours after police first arrived at her home in a gated community.

“For her own welfare, she was transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment,” Officer April Harding said, declining to elaborate. No injuries were reported.

Police initially said it appeared that Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance but Ms Harding said today she could not confirm that or other reports that Spears was taken to hospital for mental evaluation.

Spears was conscious as the ambulance left her home escorted by a row of police cars.

A horde of paparazzi chased the ambulance, their flashes going off as they held their cameras up to the vehicle’s rear window.

Cedars spokeswoman Simi Singer said she could neither confirm nor deny that Spears was at the hospital, citing patient confidentiality laws.

Officers were called to Spears’ house last night for an issue involving the custody of her sons, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James, Harding said.

Two hours later, six police cars, two ambulances and a fire engine had entered the gated community, where Spears has a 4.5 million five-bedroom home in the Santa Monica Mountains above Beverly Hills.

Spears handed over the children 20 minutes later, Officer Jason Lee said.

Spears and Federline have been involved in a long and very public custody battle. Federline has temporary custody of the children because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The two were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.

Spears’ life has spiralled downward during the past year. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public.

She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, spent a month in rehab and has had a handful of motoring incidents, including one in which she ran over a photographer’s foot.

Earlier yesterday, Spears appeared for a deposition in her custody dispute. Spears was questioned for just 14 minutes, Mr Kaplan told reporters after Spears left.

Spears’ lawyers from the firm Trope and Trope on Wednesday filed a court motion asking to be relieved due to a “breakdown” in communication with their client.