Naomi Campbell vows to fight conviction for attacking photographer in Italy

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Supermodel, 45, was convicted in her absence by a court in Sicily Friday
Is alleged to have hit photographer Gaetano Di Giovanni with her handbag
Confrontation happened when he tried to photograph her on Lipari in 2009

By Chris Hastings, Arts Correspondent For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 19:58 EST, 1 August 2015 | Updated: 02:51 EST, 2 August 2015

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Naomi Campbell last night vowed to clear her name after she received a six-month suspended jail sentence for assaulting a photographer.

The 45-year-old supermodel, who was convicted in her absence by a court in Sicily on Friday, said she would appeal against the sentence. Lawyer Guido Carlo Alleva said: ‘We are fighting the ruling. Due to the ongoing legal process, we can’t discuss the matter further.’

Miss Campbell is alleged to have hit photographer Gaetano Di Giovanni with her handbag when he tried to photograph her on the Sicilian island of Lipari in 2009.

Attack: Naomi Campbell has been found guilty of assault after she scratched the eye of a paparazzo photographer who took pictures of her and her then-boyfriend Vladimir Doronin (pictured together)

Naomi Campbell shimmers in gold at the Met Gala

The court was told that Miss Campbell, who landed her first modelling assignment when she was 15, scratched one of Mr Di Giovanni’s eyes, which required medical treatment.

Initially, Miss Campbell had hoped the matter would not come to court, and the photographer withdrew his claims after he and the model reached an unspecified agreement.

But prosecutor Francesco Massara subsequently ordered that a trial should go ahead because of the seriousness of the incident.

In 2013, when Miss Campbell was ordered to stand trial, Mr Di Giovanni said: ‘I had just started taking some shots of her and I did not expect such a violent reaction.’ Miss Campbell has a history of assaulting employees.

In 2000, she pleaded guilty in Toronto to assaulting her personal assistant Georgina Galanis with a mobile phone. Seven years later, she pleaded guilty in New York to assaulting her former housekeeper Ana Scolavino, who had accused her of throwing a BlackBerry personal organiser at her.

Miss Campbell and her representatives were unavailable for comment last night.