Yikes: Naomi Campbell Could Be Going to Prison For Six Months
Photo: Wenn
Naomi Campbell‘s fiery personality and next-level attitude makes her the perfect fit for epically entertaining reality TV, but when it comes to playing nice with others IRL, well, not so much. And now it seems her actions might land her behind bars.
According to the Telegraph, the model has been convicted of assault in Italy and sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence, which her lawyer will be appealing. The charge is for an incident that happened back in August 2009, when Campbell swung at an Italian paparazzo with her handbag, injuring his eye. The photographer was snapping pictures of Campbell and her then boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin.
“I had just started taking some shots of her and I did not expect such a violent reaction,” Di Giovanni, the injured paparazzo, said in 2013.
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Although an agreement was reached between Giovanni and Campbell’s lawyers and he withdrew charges, prosecutor Francesco Massara ordered that the trial continue in the public interest because of seriousness of the charges, Italy’s national news agency Ansa said.
A six-month suspended sentence might sound like Campbell will be spending half a year in lockup, but that’s probably not going to happen. Think back to any high school mock trial, and you’ll remember that a suspended sentence is a legal term that puts the defendant on a probation period, not necessarily in prison. As long as Campbell fulfills certain conditions and doesn’t break the law again, the judge will likely dismiss the sentence.
Considering the supermodels’ track record though, who knows how she’ll fare during the probation. This is actually her fourth assault conviction–in 2000, she pleaded guilty for throwing her cell phone at an assistant, and in 2007, she threw another phone at her housekeeper. Then again in 2008 she pleaded guilty to assault after kicking and spitting on police over lost luggage at Heathrow airport.
While the real lesson clearly has to do with learning to control your emotions, we think it’s better to just not cross Naomi Campbell–particularly if she’s holding a cell phone.
