Britney Spears’ prayers go unanswered

Britney Spears prayers went unanswered last night as she lost visitation rights with her sons indefinitely.

In chaotic scenes outside an L.A. court the troubled pop star, 26, appeared to give up any hope of getting to see her kids until at least February 19 - and instead opted to go to a church and prey.

Her ex husband Kevin Federline said through his lawyer after the hearing that there was no sense of joy about the outcome and that his ultimate goal was for Britney to one day be a capable mother to their sons.

Britney had been expected at the courthouse early Monday morning to explain to commissioner Scott M Gordon her actions two weeks ago when she was forcibly hospitalized on mental health grounds after refusing to hand her sons Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, back to their dad.

But instead of arriving on time for her fight to get the kids back the star was nowhere to be seen when proceedings began at 9.30am.

Dad Kevin Federline - sporting a Mohawk for a new TV role - and his attorneys had arrived early for the hearing at 8.30am.

Commissioner Gordon had wanted to quiz the star over her meltdown on January 3 that ended with her in a psychiatric ward.

Testimony from witnesses to the incident was heard behind closed doors and included evidence and reports from police and emergency medical staff that were called to Britney's mansion during her breakdown.

Britney and her British paparazzo boyfriend Adnan Ghalib eventually did arrive but they were four-and-a-half hours late.

The singer, wearing a white mini-dress, had been driven to the courthouse in a black 4X4. The car circled the block several times just after 1.15pm.

At one point Britney stopped and got out of the car, but quickly changed her mind when the pack approached.

She screamed: "Move back. I'm scared. Stop it. I want to get back in the car. Stop it. Let me get in the car, please."

It is believed her lawyers jumped into the car to persuade her to go into court - but Britney refused and ordered her driver to leave. The car drove in circles around the courthouse followed by police and shutterbugs.

Los Angeles police and sheriffs officers were left fuming after having put on a huge operation to ensure her safety.

"The sheriff had told her where to park but she decided she could park anywhere she wanted," said a deputy. "At one point she was seen stopping the vehicle jumping out of the back seat and swapping seats with the driver before swapping back.

"Then the car turned around and drove away."

Britney had been strongly advised - but not ordered - to turn up at court so she will not face criminal charges.

After fleeing the court date, which Federline's lawyer Marc Vincent Kaplan called "most significant hearing in the case" the troubled singer did a U-turn in her black SUV and headed straight for church where she placed a written prayer in a prayer box.

She parked outside the Little Brown Church on Coldwater Canyon Avenue - about 20 miles from the court in the Hollywood Hills - and put the note into a box known as a "God can". It is a place at the front of the non-denominational Christian church for worshipers to place prayers.

A church worker said: "Britney came in and placed a note in the God can at the front of our chapel."The God can contains the prayers and concerns of our parishioners."

After a quick pray, Britney headed to Mexican restaurant the Gaucho Grill where she grabbed lunch with Adnan before heading home.

While Britney was eating with her boyfriend the judge in charge of her case, commissioner Gordon, decided to extend an order that Federline have sole physical and legal custody of the children indefinitely, leaving Britney without even visitation rights.

The original emergency order had been made when Federline's lawyers used evidence about Britney's hospitalization in a psychiatric ward to persuade the judge to temporarily revoke her right to visit her sons.

Outside the hearing at about 5pm a spokesman for the court said sheriffs deputies had done everything they could to ensure Britney a safe passage into the building.

Spokesman Alan Parachini said: "The deputies did everything they possibly could to allow her to get into the building.

"The department had a very viable and flexible security plan. My understanding is that they did everything they could to facilitate her visit."

Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan added that Federline had no sense of victory about the outcome of the hearing.

He said: "The word victory is not something that Mr Federline or his council would ascribe to the result court - not that it wasn't the order we were seeking but there is no joyous feeling in this.

"It is a grave situation for everybody and while we believe that Mr Federline is pleased that the court made an order that we believe is an appropriate order there is no joy in it for him and no victorious view of the results.

"It is his goal that in the future in some point that he will be able to parent the children with their mother."

Britney will have another chance to regain visitation rights with her sons at a interim child custody hearing on February 19th but would likely again have to appear in person. That hearing comes ahead of the couple's full custody trial scheduled for April 9th.

By Eric Munn, Jan 15 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy