Judge gives Paris Hilton 45 days' jail

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer rejected Hilton's defence that she didn't realize her license was suspended and ordered the 26-year-old socialite to report to a county detention facility on June 5.

Hilton wept and her mother, Kathy, yelled at the prosecutor ''You're pathetic'', as the packed courtroom cleared.

The stunning decision capped a two-hour hearing in which prosecutors argued that Hilton was thumbing her nose at the court and seeking to be placed above the law, while defence lawyers said she was being singled out for harsh treatment because of her celebrity.

Taking the witness stand in her own defence, the star of the reality TV show "The Simple Life" testified that she was unaware her driving privileges had been completely suspended at the time police stopped her and impounded her car on February 27.

Hilton said her publicist, Elliot Mintz, had told her she was permitted to drive for work-related reasons after the first 30 days of her license suspension late last November, and that she relied on what he had said.

But the judge said he did not believe Hilton, pointing to a notice she had received from a police officer, and had signed, during another traffic stop in January.

He said Hilton had ''completely ignored'' that notice, which she had carried in her glove box for weeks, and another license suspension notice sent to her office address by the Department of Motor Vehicles that Hilton said she never saw. — REUTERS

sentenced given a specific punishment heiress a woman who has been or will be given a large amount of money or property from someone who has died violated went against or refused to obey a rule or law probation a system by which a person who has committed a crime can avoid going to prison if they behave well and follow a set of instructions given by a judge valid legally and officially acceptable suspended officially stopped or prevented from being used for a period of time socialite a person who goes to a lot of fashionable parties and who is often written or talked about in the media.

detention facility a jail or prison wept cried prosecutor a public official who charges someone officially with a crime and tries to prove that they are guilty in a court of law pathetic weak; unsuccessful; not deserving respect packed crowded; full of people cleared emptied stunning extremely surprising or shocking capped ended thumbing her nose showing no respect for something

singled out chose from a group for special attention celebrity the condition of being famous witness stand a place in a courtroom from which people give information after having promised to tell the truth testified made a statement that something happened or something is true, especially in a court of law impounded (of the police, courts, etc.) took something away from someone so that they cannot use it publicist a person whose job is to make something known to the public notice a sheet of paper giving written or printed information ignored failed to pay attention to