Naomi Campbell Gets Six-Month Suspended Prison Sentence for Assault on Paparazzo in Sicily

Naomi Campbell was convicted of assault by a Sicilian court Friday for scratching a paparazzo’s eye in August 2009.

The model was given a six months suspended prison sentence, according to Britain’s Telegraph, which her lawyer has vowed to appeal.

“We are appealing the ruling surrounding the 2009 incident,” attorney Guido Carlo Alleva said in a statement obtained by E! News. “Due to the ongoing legal process, we cannot discuss the matter further at this time.”

Per the Telegraph, the incident occurred when the photographer, Gaetano Di Giovanni, was snapping pictures of the model with her then-boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin, as they stepped off their boat in the Sicilian town of Lipari. Di Giovanni took photographs of the couple as they strolled through the narrow streets and did some sight-seeing, when Campbell hit him with her purse.

Naomi Campbell

The presumably designer handbag ended up scratching Di Giovanni’s eye, causing him to seek medical treatment and take three days to recover from the injury.

“I had just started taking some shots of her and I did not expect such a violent reaction,” he said in 2013, after Campbell was ordered to stand trial in Italy, according to the Telegraph.

The model’s attorneys then reached an agreement with the photographer and he withdrew the charges; however, according to Italian news agency Ansa, prosecutor Francesco Massara ordered the trial to go ahead in the public interest due to the intensity of the charges.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time Campbell had a run-in with the law. Back in 2007, she famously (and fashionably) served a five-day community service sentence in New York City after pleading guilty to reckless assault for throwing her cellphone at a housekeeper.