Lindsay Lohan Takes Plea Deal, To Enter Rehab

Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan has agreed to a last-minute plea deal that will keep her out of jail on charges she lied to police officers and violated her probation.

In exchange for admitting she violated her probation in a previous theft case, Lohan will spend 90 days in a locked rehab facility, followed by 30 days of community service and 18 months of court-mandated psychotherapy.

Her attorney must show proof she has enrolled in residential by May 2. Lohan will also pay a fine of $150 (£99) and must complete two years of probation.

As the hearing concluded, the judge also warned Lohan she should stay away from drugs and alcohol - as well as people who use them - and that she is subject to random search and seizure by police.

The plea agreement came after weeks of reports that Lohan had repeatedly turned down Los Angeles prosecutors' offers, and after she arrived half an hour late to her long-scheduled court appearance, looking slightly frazzled.

Earlier in the day, she tweeted her thanks to a company for flying her from New York to Los Angeles by private jet that morning.

The former teen star was accused over a car crash in June which left her briefly in hospital, and the case represented her most serious brush with the law in six scandal-plagued years.

The 26-year-old was alleged to have lied to officers when she told them she was not behind the wheel of a Porsche that collided with a truck as she headed to filming of the movie Liz & Dick in June.

Lohan had pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanour charges filed after the accident - reckless driving, lying to police and obstructing officers from performing their duties - which could have carried a jail sentence of up to three years.

The actress could also have faced up to 245 days in jail if a judge had determined she violated her probation in a 2011 theft case.

That probation relates to a conviction for shoplifting from a jeweller's shop in the Californian beach resort of Venice.

Lohan has repeatedly been in trouble with the law since she was arrested for driving under the influence in 2007.

A catalogue of arrests, court appearances and rehab has become fodder for America's huge entertainment news industry.

Mike Walters, news director of TMZ.com, told Sky News that this was the most serious case she had ever faced.

He accepted the media has played a part in her troubles - but that can be no excuse for her.

"When Lindsay Lohan first got in trouble I would say the way it was covered could have caused some of her problems," he said.

"But at a point you've got to say 'Take some responsibility'. She is an adult, she has been famous for a number of years, you can't blame the media, her parents, her upbringing, the movies she was on, her ex-boyfriends, after all this time."

Her life has become a cautionary tale for those who spot child stars and guide them through the minefield of Hollywood and fame.

Susie Mains, a child talent agent and author of Baby, You're A Star, told Sky News: "Lindsay Lohan was wanted by producers and directors, and now she's wanted by the law.

"The greatest tragedy is that she is so uber-talented, unbelievably, off-the-charts talented, and made the difficult transition from child star to meaningful movie star, but couldn't sustain it."