Photographer cleared of assaulting Heather Mills

LEWES, England -- A photographer convicted of assaulting Heather Mills won an appeal Tuesday because Mills didn't attend a court hearing.

Jay Kaycappa had been sentenced to 140 hours of community service for allegedly grabbing Mills by her shoulder and taking her photograph in 2006.

A prosecutor told the court in Lewes that Mills, the estranged wife of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, wasn't available for the hearing, and that he believed she was somewhere in the U.S.

However, Judge Richard Brown said he had received a document from a doctor saying Mills was suffering from stress.

Kaycappa had been convicted of assaulting Mills and her friend Mark Payne after encountering them in a pedestrian tunnel. Mills, Payne and two other men were cycling to the south coast city of Brighton at the time.

Mills and McCartney were granted a preliminary decree of divorce last week, and a final decree could be granted by the end of next month.