Newspaper tycoon Alexander Lebedev has been sentenced to 150 hours of community service by a Russian court after he was found guilty of assault for punching a guest on a TV talk show.

The businessman, who is the financial backer of The Independent in the UK, lashed out at property developer Sergei Polonsky during a programme in 2011.

Another of his papers, Novaya Gazeta, has been critical of the Kremlin as well as investigating official corruption, and he had suggested the case was politi-cally motivated.

His London-based son Evgeny – the owner of The Independent and London’s Evening Standard newspaper – said: “I am relieved that my father has been spared a custodial sentence, and that this deeply worrying time for our family is finally at an end.

“We are grateful for the messages of support we have received from friends and well wishers, in Russia and around the world.”

He went on: “This case, whatever the result, never threatened our intention to fight for freedom of speech and to expose corruption, and with our newspapers in Russia and the UK, we now return to it with re-newed vigour.”

Prosecutors in the court case had dropped hooliganism charges which could have led to a jail term.