Mel B's husband's shady criminal past

Aug 13, 2007, 13:00 GMT

07/31/2007 - Melanie Brown - Hollywood, CA © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos

Mel B's new husband is wanted by police - for killing a duck.

Film producer Stephen Belafonte has a warrant out for his arrest in his home state of New Jersey for killing the bird with a brick.

Belafonte - who secretly married Mel in June - has admitted to bludgeoning the duck to death outside his Point Pleasant home, but fled to Los Angeles before paying his £300 court-ordered fine.

An Ocean County court spokesperson said: "A warrant has been issued over unpaid fines and costs relating to an animal-related offence. He will be arrested if he returns to the area."

News of the offence comes just days after Belafonte, 32, was revealed as a wife-beater.

In 2003, Belafonte - previously known as Stephen Stansbury - did not contest he hit his former common-law wife Nicole Contreras, after a "drunk, retarded night".

Belafonte - who has a three-year-old daughter, Giselle, with Contreras - was spared jail, but a judge ordered him to attend a domestic violence programme.

Meanwhile, Mel has revealed she wants to have a baby with her husband.

When asked if she wanted more children by US chat show host Larry King, 32-year-old Mel said: "Yeah, I'd like to, of course."

Mel already has a four-month-old daughter, Angel Iris, with ex-boyfriend Eddie Murphy, and an eight-year-old daughter, Phoenix, with ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar.

(C) BANG Media International