Tony Barretto's 15 minutes are up

Sep 24, 2007, 20:12 GMT

Vintage 2003 Brit EPA/JAVIER ROJAS

Britney Spears' former bodyguard feared she would die from a drug overdose after finding her completely "out of it" in a hotel room.

Tony Barretto, who submitted a signed statement about the singer's behaviour to a Los Angeles court last week, has spoken out about Britney's drug and alcohol problems for the sake of her sons, Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one.

Barretto, who was hired shortly after Britney left rehab in March, claims the 'Toxic' singer went on a date with Howie Day on May 2 in Los Angeles - just hours before her comeback show in Anaheim - and hysterically phoned her security team hours later saying Day wouldn't let her leave their hotel room.

Barretto told Britain's News of the World newspaper: "I gave evidence because Britney is out of control and needs help. I have done this for her children. She has mental problems and drug and alcohol issues. Her home is no place for her kids to be raised.

"We told Britney that Howie was trouble. When Britney phoned us from the Mondrian Hotel, we knew we had to get to her fast.

"Britney was completely out of it. We thought she'd overdosed. Her skin was all waxy. We thought she was going to die.

"The hotel room was littered with empty beer bottles and liquor bottles and cigarette butts. I could see mounds of white powder and a straw, I suspected it was cocaine or methamphetamines. I spotted a glass pipe, which is often used with crystal meth."

The bodyguard also slammed Britney's parenting skills, saying she "scares" her sons and once almost crashed her car when she was with them.

Barretto said: "Britney loves her kids but she is a fickle mom. When the kids are happy, she is happy. When they are crying or unwell, she isn't sure what to do. She speaks to them in a weird baby language, but all it does is scare and unsettle them.

"She nearly wrote the car off with them inside once. We followed her but she was driving like a lunatic on the wrong side of the road. It was terrifying."

Barretto, who was fired in May because he didn't hear Britney asking him to pick up her hat, claims the 25-year-old parades around naked to "embarrass" people and felt "suicidal" before shaving her head.

He said: "I've seen her suicidal before, it was just before she shaved her hair. She clearly regretted doing it. She had outbursts of crying over it."

Britney is currently fighting her ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody of their two boys.

(C) BANG Media International