Naomi Campbell convicted for Sicily assault

ROME- British model Naomi Campbell was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison term on Friday, guilty of scratching the eye of a paparazzi photographer in 2009. The conviction was ruled in the Sicilian town of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, in relation to an incident occurring on August 5 six years ago.

 With her then boyfriend, Russian millionaire Vladimir Doronin, the model left a yacht docked off the Sicilian island of Lipari to explore the charming port town, and was pursued by Italian photographer Gaetano di Giovanni, who took several photos of her as she walked through the winding streets. Naomi then lashed out at the photographer, hitting him with her bag which scratched one of his eyes, whilst another photographer was present. Di Giovanni told the court that his eye required medical treatment and meant that he had to recover for three days. The lawyers of the top model had previously made an agreement with the photographer to drop the charges but despite this prosecutor Francesco Massara ordered that the trial take place for the interest of the public given the seriousness of the wounding charges, judicial sources said.

 The top model is no stranger to assault charges, as in 2008 she was sentenced to six months imprisonment for attacking a policeman who was escorting her off an airplane.