Actor Shia LaBeouf sentenced after pleading guilty to simple battery during Mardi Gras festival

Actor Shia LaBeouf has pleaded guilty to three counts of simple battery and was sentenced to probation for punching people outside a New Orleans bar in February during the Mardi Gras festival.

New Orleans parish judge Juana Marine-Lombard gave the actor a six-month suspended sentence and two years of probation.

LaBeouf was also ordered to keep away from the three victims and the bar.

The Transformers star must also attend an alcohol treatment programme under the sentence, according to Sarah Chervinsky, an attorney for the actor.

LaBeouf had been released on bail following his arrest near the city's historic French Quarter.

Footage of the 17 February encounter shows a shirtless LaBeouf, 39, shoving a person to the ground and hitting someone else in the face, "causing his nose to possibly dislocate", according to a New Orleans police report.

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Jeffrey Damnit, a well-known local entertainer who police identified as Jeffrey Klein in the incident report, said he was one of the people assaulted by the star.

He said LaBeouf, who found fame on the Disney Channel as a young teen in the early 2000s, had pushed him from behind at the bar earlier in the night, using homophobic insults and threatening his life.

Chervinsky said it was a "minor Mardi Gras bar tussle" and there was "no evidence it was about bias or prejudice".

"Mr LaBeouf came to court today wanting to take accountability for his part in what happened, and he has done so," Chervinsky said.

"Now he's looking forward to focusing on family, work, and new creative projects."

Damnit's attorney said his client hopes LaBeouf's behaviour improves after his substance abuse treatment.

"In New Orleans we are all equal, we should all feel safe, and we don't treat people different based upon relative fame," attorney Michael Kennedy said.

The Hollywood star is also known for films including Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Constantine and, more recently, several independent movies.

Mardi Gras is the pre-lent festival which coincides with carnival festivals around the world and attracts thousands of visitors to the city to see colourful parades, performers and festival goers.

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