A Paris court has convicted former Christian Dior designer John Galliano for making anti-Semitic insults and gave him a suspended sentence of 6,000 euros (£5,200) in fines.
The court found him guilty of "public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity" stemming from two separate incidents at a Paris bar.
After 15 critically acclaimed and commercially successful years at Dior, the flamboyant Briton's brilliant career crashed after a couple alleged he accosted them while they were having a drink at Paris' hip La Perle cafe on February 24.
Another woman soon came forward with similar claims about a separate incident in the same cafe. Days later, The Sun posted a video showing a visibly drunk Galliano insulting a fellow cafe client, slurring: "I love Hitler."
As the video went viral, Dior took swift and decisive action against the man it had long treated as an icon, sacking Galliano days before the label's autumn-winter 2011 runway show in March. Galliano was later also ousted from his eponymous label, which is owned by Dior's parent company.
Galliano said he had been under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs and could not recall the incidents in question.
The judge said the court found Galliano had "sufficient awareness of his act despite his addiction and his fragile state", but the court also took into account that he apologised to the plaintiffs during the June trial and noted the "values of tolerance" in his work.
His lawyer, Aurelien Hamelle, called it "a really strong sign from the court". Asked about Galliano's future plans, he said only that his client was "looking forward to the future" and "will continue to care for himself".
At his day-long trial in June, Galliano resembled a broken, crumpled shadow of his once-inflated self. In extensive and often-moving testimony, Galliano was contrite and humble, telling the three-judge panel he was sorry "for the sadness that this whole affair has caused".
Read More
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.
