A HAMPSHIRE photographer has been found guilty of assaulting Heather Mills-McCartney in a subway as he tried to take her picture.

Jay Kaycappa, 32, grabbed the estranged wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney by her right shoulder in order to swing her round and take her photograph.

Brighton Magistrates Court heard during a three-day trial that the incident took place in a subway in the seaside resort on July 5 last year.

Father of three Kaycappa, of The Hurdles, Fareham, was also convicted of assaulting Ms Mills-McCartney's friend Mark Payne the following evening.

Ms Mills-McCartney was not in court to hear the verdicts.

Chair of the bench Juliet Smith said freelance Kaycappa's evidence had been "confused and contradictory" while Ms Mills-McCartney had been a "credible" prosecution witness.

Magistrates heard the assault took place as she cycled to Brighton from her seafront home on the exclusive Western Esplanade in Hove, East Sussex, accompanied by her personal trainer Ben Amigoni, 23, and a gay American couple, Mark Payne and Michael Shilub.

The former model and animal rights campaigner, aged 39, told the court she ducked into the subway to avoid the paparazzi but was alarmed when she spotted a photographer at the exit.

During the trial, prosecutor Dale Sullivan accused Kaycappa and the other photographer of hunting Ms Mills-McCartney "like a pack of animals".

The photographer, who the court heard has a total of 132 criminal convictions for dishonesty offences, said he did not push Mr Payne but put his hand up to protect his camera.

Sentencing was adjourned to August 16 for reports but Kaycappa was warned that prison would be an option.

He was freed on unconditional bail but made no comment as he left court.