Lil Wayne to do his rapping behind bars for year

Rapper Lil Wayne, his lawyer Stacey Richman by his side, listened to the judge in a Manhattan criminal court sentence him yesterday to a year in jail for having a loaded gun on his tour bus.

The rapper delivered only a brief bow to fans as he was led out of a courtroom in handcuffs.

Lil Wayne, 27, one of music's most prolific and profitable figures, was arrested in July 2007.

He pleaded guilty in October to criminal possession of a weapon, admitting he had the loaded .40-calibre semi-automatic gun on his bus.

Richman said: "He knew what he had to do, and he's doing it."

Lil Wayne, who won a Grammy for best rap album and whose album, Rebirth, was released last month, is being held apart from other inmates at the Rikers Island jail.