Rupert Murdoch foam pie attacker pleads guilty

A British comedian who dramatically threw a shaving-cream pie at media mogul 80-year-old Rupert Murdoch during a parliamentary hearing into the phone-hacking scandal on Friday pleaded guilty and was convicted of assault and causing harassment.

Jonathan May-Bowles, 26, splattered Murdoch with a plate of shaving foam as the News Corporation boss was testifying to British lawmakers on July 19 on the phone-hacking scandal involving News of the World, Britain's biggest-selling Sunday paper, which was closed down on July 7 amid public outrage.

May-Bowles admitted assault and causing harassment, alarm or distress, when he appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court. May-Bowles, who calls himself Jonnie Marbles, is due to be sentenced on August 2, BBC reported.

Leaving court, May-Bowles echoed Murdoch's statement to the hearing, telling reporters: "This has been the most humble day of my life."

The hearing, which lasted 15 minutes, was told that Murdoch did not support the charge of assault, which could see the comedian jailed. His lawyer asked district judge Daphne Wickham to set another date as May-Bowles had booked a holiday with his family and young son.

The judge rejected the plea and said that a warrant would be issued for his arrest if he failed to turn up on August 2. "He is on bail for a serious offence which carries a risk of imprisonment," the judge said. "It's due process. He should have thought about this on July 19 when he committed these offences."