'Scary's ex smacked my boy'

A mother shook with emotion today as she told a court that Scary Spice's ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar had allegedly roared at her autistic son and smacked him after an incident in a London Zoo playground.

The woman accused the Dutchborn dancer of assaulting her three-year-old boy as he played on a coin-operated jeep.

Gulzar, who denies common assault, was allegedly reacting to a push on a toddler he was supervising.

The woman, who is not named due to a legal order to shield her son's identity, said her boy had pushed a little girl backwards. "Suddenly this man appeared and just roared very aggressively at him.

"He lifted his hand and hit my son really hard. It was a serious slap on his bottom," she told Horseferry Road magistrates court.

Gulzar, 35, divorced Spice Girl Melanie Brown in late 2000.

The case continues