Updated 17.40pm
SAVED BY THE BELL actor Dustin Diamond has been sentenced to four months in prison for misdemeanour charges stemming from a bar-room stabbing in Wisconsin.
Judge Paul Malloy also sentenced Diamond to 15 months’ probation and ordered him to report to jail Sunday.
Diamond was convicted earlier this month on two misdemeanor counts that stemmed from a Christmas Day barroom fight.
The 38-year-old – known for his role as Screech on Saved by the Bell – appeared misty-eyed, left the courtroom without commenting.
Diamond was cleared of a felony charge last month after a three-day jury trial. The jury found him guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct.
Malloy said the sentence “has to send a message to the community that we’re just not going to live like this.”
The actor told jurors that he took out a knife that day to try to ward off people, including a woman who punched his girlfriend. He said he then accidentally stabbed a man during an altercation.
“I sincerely apologise to everyone involved,” Diamond said at the hearing Thursday.
“This was the single most terrifying experience of my life … This is all I’ve been able to think about for the last six months.”
Since his role on the popular 1990s TV show about Bayside High School students, Diamond has been sued several times for delinquent taxes and in foreclosure proceedings for missing mortgage payments.
He has appeared on reality TV shows, made a sex tape and most recently produced a tell-all documentary on Lifetime TV called “The Unauthorised Saved by the Bell Story.”
First published 08.14am
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