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R Kelly's lawyers call for his release following reports gang member attacked the singer in jail

R Kelly, pictured at a hearing at in Chicago last year: AP
R Kelly, pictured at a hearing at in Chicago last year: AP

A convicted member of the Latin Kings gang allegedly beat up R Kelly in a bid to shed light on wrongdoing in his own criminal case.

The R&B singer's lawyers filed a motion on Friday in federal court to question Jeremiah Farmer under oath over the claims, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Famer said in a court filing from earlier this week that he attacked Kelly on August 26 in the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, because he wanted "spotlight attention and world news notice to shed light on” his own case.

The convicted gang member was able to slip away from an employee at the centre, enter a cell and repeatedly hit Kelly in the head, according to a US Bureau of Prisons report attached to Farmer’s filing.

R Kelly turns to leave after appearing at a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse last year(Getty Images)
R Kelly turns to leave after appearing at a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse last year(Getty Images)

A security officer reportedly used pepper spray to stop the attack.

Farmer said in the court filing that he attacked Kelly because of "the most blatant corruption in Farmer’s case and being (on) lockdown for Robert Kelly protest.”

The R&B singer's lawyers claim that when Kelly's supporters protest in front of the correctional centre, the facility went into lockdown, sparking outrage from Kelly's fellow inmates.

Kelly, 53, faces several dozen counts of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York, from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying him with girls.

The Grammy Award winning singer has denied ever abusing anyone.

Farmer, 39, is facing mandatory life in prison in a racketeering conspiracy that involved a 1999 double murder, according to the newspaper.

“It appears that MCC personnel simply followed Mr Farmer, allowed him to carry out the attack, and then only intervened after Mr Kelly had already sustained serious injuries,” Kelly’s lawyer Michael Leonard wrote in the motion.

Kelly’s lawyers have been trying to have him released on bail pending his trial.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.

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