BRITNEY SPEARS - SPEARS IS A NO-SHOW FOR CUSTODY HEARING

BRITNEY SPEARS has so far failed to turn up to a Los Angeles court for her crucial custody hearing with ex-husband KEVIN FEDERLINE, ignoring her lawyers' "strong advice" about the importance of the meeting. The troubled pop star was due to appear at Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday morning (14Jan08), where a judge will determine whether Spears can have her visitation rights reinstalled. Her access to sons Sean Preston, two and Jayden James, one, was cut off earlier this month (Jan08) after she refused to return the boys to Federline following a scheduled visit. Monday's court hearing was scheduled to begin at 9.30am local time, and while Federline and his attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan arrived shortly after 9am, two hours later there was still no sign of the singer. And sources claim Spears has "no plans" to attend the custody session at all, reports People.com. During the court session, Commissioner Scott Gordon is expected to hear eyewitness accounts from members of the emergency services about the events of 3 January (08), when Spears suffered an apparent breakdown, sparking a lengthy stand-off with police and resulting in the star being admitted to hospital for a mental evaluation. Following the dramatic incident, Federline was awarded sole legal and physical custody of their two sons, while Spears was handed a temporary restraining order against her ex.