Court convicts Galliano in anti-Semitism case

Paris: A Paris court has convicted former Christian Dior designer John Galliano for making anti-Semitic insults and gave him a suspended sentence of euro6,000 ($8,400) in fines.Galliano was given no prison time. He does not have to pay the fine. He didn't attend Thursday's court proceedings.

The Paris court found him guilty of "public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity" stemming from two separate incidents at a Paris bar.

The accusations cost Galliano his job at the luxury house and roiled the fashion world.Galliano said he had been under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs and couldn't recall the incidents in question.

After nearly 15 critically acclaimed and commercially successful years at Dior, the Briton's brilliant career flamed out after a couple alleged he accosted them while they were having a drink on the terrace of Paris' hip La Perle cafe on February 24.

The incident made headlines worldwide, and another woman soon came forward with similar claims about an earlier incident in the same cafe. Days later, British tabloid The Sun posted an amateur video showing a visibly drunk Galliano insulting a fellow cafe client, slurring: "I love Hitler."

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As the video went viral, Dior took swift and decisive action against the man it had long treated as a sort of demigod, sacking Galliano days before the label's fall-winter 2011 runway show in March. He was also ousted from his eponymous label, which is owned by Dior's parent company.

In extensive and often-moving testimony at the June trial, Galliano said he had been under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs and couldn't recall the incidents in question.

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He said he'd done a stint in a rehab clinic in Arizona and was recovering from addictions to alcohol, sleeping pills and barbiturates - habits he blamed on the pressures of the high-stakes fashion industry.