娱乐英语新闻:Restraining order issued in Britney Spears case

BEIJING, April 29 -- A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge has issued restraining orders against Britney Spears' former manager and an attorney.

    Spears' former manager Osama "Sam" Lutfi, and attorney Jon Eardley were told to stay away from the 27-year-old pop singer and to not contact, threaten or try to act on her or her sons' behalf for the next three years.

Singer Britney Spears performs with Madonna (not pictured) during the Los Angeles date of her "Sticky and Sweet" tour at Dodgers stadium in Los Angeles November 6, 2008.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aviva K. Bobb issued her ruling Tuesday after hearing testimony and arguments in recent weeks from the men and lawyers for Spears' father, Jamie.  

    Bobb refused to extend the same protection to Spears' parents.

    The singer's court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham, endorsed issuing the orders during a hearing last week, saying they were in Spears' "best interests."

    Lawyers for Lutfi and Eardley promised to appeal the ruling, saying the lengthy hearing didn't prove the singer suffered substantial emotional distress as a result of the men's actions.

    Lutfi's attorney, Bryan J. Freedman, said evidence instead pointed to Spears asking his client for help.

    "Never before in the history of the world has a restraining order been issued against someone who merely responded to cries for help," Freedman said.

    Roger Diamond, who represented Eardley, said it was disappointing that the ruling didn't spell out the judge's reasoning for issuing the orders.

    Jamie Spears and his lawyers petitioned for lengthy restraining orders against the men in January, arguing that the pair were conspiring along with paparazzo Adnan Ghalib to undermine the conservatorship. Bobb last month issued a three-year restraining order against Ghalib, who is the singer's former boyfriend.

    The hearing had been conducted over several days in the past two months, with testimony from Jamie Spears and his daughter's security detail and a hairdresser. The hairdresser testified that Britney Spears told her she was scared of Lutfi and didn't want to have anything to do with him.