Billionaire businessman Paddy McKillen was today convicted of attacking a woman bailiff in his €30million Paris apartment.
The 70-year-old tycoon, who owns a whisky distillery in Ireland with U2 frontman Bono, was not in court in the French capital on Wednesday as judgement was handed down against him.
He was fined €10,000 (£8,400) for 'violence against public official' Anna Cohen-Bacri, 33, and ordered to pay her a total of €1500 (£1300) in damages and costs.
Judge Fanny Huboux, sitting in the 33rd Chamber of the Paris Correctional Court, said Belfast-born Mr McKillen was 'guilty as charged'. She rejected prosecution calls for an eight-month suspended prison sentence for Mr McKillen.
In turn, defence lawyers launched an immediate appeal, saying in a statement: "Mr McKillen strongly denies the accusations against him", describing them as being "based on outright lies".
The lawyers said "a shocked and distressed" Mr McKillen was "on a plane somewhere" but would travel to Paris for any future proceedings. They also indicated that they would be launching a complaint against Ms Cohen-Bacri for "breach of professional ethics".
It followed Ms Cohen Bacri, who was visibly pregnant as she sat in court today, offering evidence against an absent Mr McKillen during a one-day trial on January 22.
She told how she was set upon by Mr McKillen on June 25 last year after he returned from a business trip to Japan. Ms Cohen-Bacri said he flew into a rage after she legally entered the property in the prestigious Place Vendome, next to the Paris Ritz and France's Ministry of Justice, with the aid of a locksmith.
She was acting in relation to the alleged non-payment of a loan to the Qatari-linked Quintet private bank, it was alleged.
McKillen found her "inside his home with the door ajar", said Ms Cohen-Bacri. He then repeatedly screamed, "F*****g bailiff" and "F*** you, bailiff!" in English, said Ms Cohen-Bacri, who is less than 5ft tall. After being "violently aggressed" she was so scared that she phoned local police, who arrived within minutes.
Ms Cohen-Bacri was testifying at McKillen's trial for 'violence against a public official' that can be punished by up to a year in prison in France. Referring back to the alleged assault by McKillen, she said: "Mr McKillen knew a bailiff was present but became extremely aggressive. He tried to stop me doing my job, and was physically and verbally violent. He was truly aggressive. I'm very small and was very scared. He put his hand up menacingly, and then began to swear repeatedly. He was insulting me the whole time, and then become even more violent."
A total of four witness were present, said Ms Cohen-Bacri, including the locksmith. Today neither Ms Cohen-Bacri, nor her lawyer Marina Ruta commented on the verdict.
Mr McKillen is currently also involved in a long-running legal dispute with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, a former prime minister of Qatar, who is known as HBJ for short. Mr McKillen helped furnish HBJ's $118 million mansion in Bel Air, California, with expensive art, including pieces by Damien Hirst, another of McKillen's friends.
The Bel Air case is one of seven that the property magnate and hotelier is pursuing against HBJ, and other members of the Qatari royal family. Mr McKillen used to be a part owner of Claridge's, the five star hotel in London's Mayfair. The appeal by Mr McKillen in the Cohen-Bacri is likely to be heard in the autumn.
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