Gulzar charged with assault on child

Jimmy Gulzar will appear before magistrates on Monday

The former husband of Spice Girl Mel B has been charged with common assault on a three-year-old, Scotland Yard said on Thursday.

Dutchman Gulzar is alleged to have hauled the three-year-old boy off a child's ride at London Zoo.

The 34-year-old dancer from Willesden, north west London, was formally charged at Marylebone police station.

The incident was alleged to have happened on 1 September while he was visiting the zoo with his daughter Phoenix Chi.

Gulzar will appear before Horseferry Road Magistrates Court on Monday.

Gulzar split with the singer after 16 months of marriage

Gulzar met Melanie Brown on the Spice Girls' 1998 world tour, where he appeared as a dancer.

The couple married in September of that year in a lavish ceremony.

The couple went to great lengths on the day to avoid paparazzi snaps being taken because they had signed a mega-deal with a glossy magazine for exclusive photographs.

But they split amid acrimony in January 2000, and no longer speak.

The singer is now in a relationship with actor Max Beesley.