Britney Spears libel case is thrown out of court in US

A civil case brought against Britney Spears and her family by her former manager has been thrown out of court by a judge.

Osama 'Sam' Lutfi, who said he worked for the singer in 2007 and 2008, had sued for breach of contract.

He'd also tried to sue Britney's mother, Lynne Spears, for defamation, and her father, Jamie, for assault.

After two weeks of testimony judge Suzanne Bruguera said there was not enough evidence to continue.

She told Los Angeles' Superior Court that it was "the right thing to do".

She said Sam Lutfi hadn't proven any of the claims he'd made during the trial.

For the past fortnight, the court had been hearing about the public breakdown Britney had more than four years ago.

Then the singer temporarily lost custody of her children, was briefly hospitalised and became estranged from her family.

It was at that time she met Sam Lutfi. He said she'd hired him as her manager after meeting him in a club.

In her 2008 book Through The Storm, Lynne Spears claimed Sam Lutfi had controlled her daughter, crushed drugs into her food and cut off contact from her family.

He denied that saying he's been a friend to Britney and tried to get her off drugs.

As part of his case, he had also claimed Britney's father hit him at the singer's mansion.

He wanted a 15% share of the singer's earnings from the time he worked with her.

The 38-year-old said he would appeal the judge's ruling.

Since her breakdown, Britney Spears, now 30, has made a successful comeback to the limelight, most recently as a judge on The X Factor USA.