Britney Spears father chased her ex-manager Sam Lutfi around a kitchen before punching him and threatening his life, a Los Angeles court has heard. Mr Lutfi, who is suing Spears' parents for defamation, recalled the violent scene during his testimony this week, reports The Independent.

He denied accusations made in Britney's mother's book that he was a Svengali, locking the parents out of Britney's world during her notorious meltdown. "After the book came out, there was a huge spike of death threats that were pretty bad.People I know were shunning me. Websites were created to kill me. People wished I was dead. People wished my family..." Mr Lutfi explained, before breaking down in tears. He recalled fleeing Britney's home on one occasion after hearing that father Jamie was en route. Eventually, Mr Spears caught up with him, punching him. "Jamie came barging into the house. He lunged at me and chased me around the kitchen island. He was spitting, yelling, shouting at me, and said I had hurt his daughter and he was going to beat the hell out of me and I'd better get out of the house," said Lutfi. Jamie was reportedly escorted out by security guards though returned the following morning to punch Lutfi in the "solar plexus."

Britney's former manager is suing for damages and defamation and seeks a 15% share of the millions the singer made while he was her manager. Spears has been told by a judge not to attend or give evidence.