Blake Fielder-Civil, the husband of Amy Winehouse, has been jailed for 27 months for assaulting a man and trying to cover the incident up.

Fielder-Civil admitted assaulting pub landlord James King outside the Macbeth in East London in 2006 and perverting the course of justice.

Three other men, including Fielder-Civil's friend, Michael Brown, who had admitted assault, were also jailed for perverting the course of justice.

When Fielder-Civil was handed his sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London, Judge David Radford told him he had acted in a "gratuitous, cowardly and disgraceful" way.

He said Fielder-Civil had joined the attack on King "out of a mistaken sense of loyalty to your friend".

The judge told the court that Fielder-Civil, who has been on remand in jail for the last nine months awaiting trial, had been high on drink and drugs at the time of the assault.

Brown was sentenced to 33 months in jail, while Anthony Kelly and James Kennedy were both given sentences after admitting to perverting the course of justice.

Winehouse was not present at the sentencing this afternoon. In the run up to today, she had appeared confident that Fielder-Civil would be released.

(by Jason Gregory)