MEAT PUPPETS - MEAT PUPPET PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULT

MEAT PUPPETS bassist CRIS KIRKWOOD faces two years behind bars after pleading guilty to assault - after a row over a parking space.

The BACKWATER singer, 43, entered a guilty plea at the US District Court on Monday (10MAY04) to assault with a dangerous weapon after hitting a post office security guard with a baton in Phoenix, Arizona in December 2003 - a fight that left him with a bullet wound in his stomach.

The rocker is expected to be jailed for a minimum 27 months when he is sentenced on 26 July (04) in addition to a restitution payment to the victim. If it had gone to trial, Kirkwood could have faced up to 10 years in prison.