Britney Spears (Shutterstock)

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny has issued a five-year restraining order forbidding Britney Spears’ former manager Sam Lutfi from contacting the singer or her family or making disparaging statements about them online, according to The Associated Press.

While Lutfi’s attorney Marc Gans reportedly argued that the order was an unconstitutional restraint on his client’s free speech, Judge Penny ultimately ruled in favor of Spears extending the temporary retraining order she first issued on May 8, reports AP.

Spears’ father, James Spears, who has controlled his daughter’s money and affairs via a court-ordered conservatorship for 11 years, reportedly testified that Lutfi, who served briefly as Britney’s manager back in 2007-2008, has been harrassing his family for more than a decade and attempting to incite fans who have used the social-media hashtag #FreeBritney to criticize the control he and the court have had over the pop star during that period.

The Spears family has fought Lutfi in court a number of times over the past decade, starting with a restraining order they received against him in 2009.

The proceedings were a resumption of a hearing that began on May 28. Britney Spears was not present in court.

Gans and his client are reportedly considering an appeal.

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