RUSSELL CROWE confessed in Manhattan Criminal Court last night to throwing a telephone at a New York hotel concierge.

The Oscar-winning actor pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanour assault in the third degree that will keep him out of jail and allow him to continue making films in America. The original charges, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, could have led to a felony conviction, barring Crowe from working in America. Instead, Judge Kathryn Freed gave the New Zealand-born star a conditional discharge, requiring him only to stay out of trouble with the law for a year.

Crowe was arrested on June 6. It was alleged that at about 4am, angry that he could not get through to his wife in Australia, he threw a telephone at Nestor Estrada, 28, a concierge at the Mercer Hotel, gashing his face. He has reportedly settled a civil claim by Mr Estrada for a low six-figure sum.

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