Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been convicted of assaulting a paparazzo.

She scratched the photographer’s eye during the incident, which happened in Sicily six years ago.

The Londoner was handed down a six-month sentence by an Italian court on Friday – though it’s unlikely she’ll see the inside of a prison cell: the term has been suspended.

And according to The Telegraph, her lawyer has also vowed to appeal.

"We are appealing the ruling surrounding the 2009 incident," attorney Guido Carlo Alleva said in a brief statement.

Gaetano Di Giovanni was taking pictures of the model with her then-boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin, in the Sicilian town of Lipari when Campbell hit him with her bag.

The outburst resulted in a scratch to Mr Di Giovanni's eye, causing him to seek medical treatment and take three days off work to recover from the injury.

Ms Campbell had been ordered to stand trial in Italy in 2013.

And while she reportedly reached a financial settlement with the photographer on condition that he withdraw the charges, the public prosecutor nevertheless proceeded with a conviction due to the severity of the incident.

Back in 1998, Naomi, who boasts a 30-year career in modelling, was ordered by a court to attend anger-management classes after striking her personal assistant with a mobile phone.

In 2008 she admitted attacking police at Heathrow in a row over lost luggage.