A British court convicted a photographer Wednesday of assaulting Heather Mills in an underground passage as he tried to take her picture.
Jay Kaycappa, 32, grabbed Mills, the estranged wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, by her right shoulder to swing her round so he could photograph her face on July 5, 2006, prosecutor Dale Sullivan told Brighton Magistrates Court.
Mills was cycling with her personal trainer and friends near her home in the seaside resort city of Brighton when she ducked into the underground passage to escape photographers who were pursuing her “like a pack of animals,” Sullivan said.
Kaycappa was also convicted of assaulting Mills’ friend Mark Payne the following evening.
The freelance photographer shook his head in the dock after magistrates convicted him of both assault charges.
“Heather is delighted that justice has been done and hopes that the photographers who pursue her on a daily basis will now leave her and her daughter alone,” said her spokesman, Phil Hall.
McCartney, 65, and Mills, a 39-year-old former model and activist, are in divorce proceedings. They have a 3-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
Mills testified at the trial, but wasn’t in court to hear the verdicts.
Kaycappa was released on bail and will be sentenced Aug. 16.