Ex-Happy Mondays dancer Bez jailed for assault

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Former Happy Mondays dancer Bez was jailed for four weeks on Wednesday for assaulting his ex-girlfriend during a row over money.

Bez, whose real name is Mark Berry, attacked the mother of his two-year-old son after he accused her of stealing his cash. He flew into a rage, put his hands round her neck and throttled her during a row at their Manchester home in May.

He was originally given a community order at Manchester Magistrates court and was asked to pay 450 pounds ($695) in costs, the Press Association reported.

But Bez, who became well-known as for his manic dancing with the Happy Mondays from its inception in the mid-1980s, told the chairman of the magistrates' bench Marie Cash that he would not obey the sentence.

"I'm not doing it. Bothered? I'm going to appeal and take this to a real court," he said.

In response Cash told Bez, a former winner of Celebrity Big Brother, he was going to jail for one month.

Bez, who represented himself, shouted: ""Victory is in my grasp" as he was handcuffed and taken to the cells.

His former partner Monica Ward had told the court at a hearing earlier this month that he was "looking insane" as he squeezed her neck and kicked down a door.

She said he then threatened to kill her after she alerted police.

Bez claimed he was acting in self-defense but was convicted of assault and using unlawful means to gain entry into a property.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)