Fashion icon John Galliano was Thursday convicted of anti-Semitism for hurling abuse at bar patrons in Paris' Jewish quarter in a career-breaking outburst he has blamed on drink and drugs.
But the British designer, who faced a maximum of six months in jail, received a far lower sentence with suspended fines totalling 6,000 euros (8,400 dollars) after the court accepted he was sorry for his actions.
The Paris criminal court found him guilty of proferring anti-Semitic insults in public -- an offence under French law -- when he clashed with bar patrons in the capital's Marais district on two occasions, in February this year and October 2010.
But judge Anne-Marie Sauteraud said Galliano deserved a "moderate sentence", noting that he had apologised to his three victims and that he "has become aware of the state he was in, and has sought help."
The court ordered Galliano to pay a symbolic euro in damages to each of the victims and to five anti-racism groups that were plaintiffs in the case. He was also told to pay the bodies 16,500 euros in legal costs.
The 50-year-old designer, who was sacked in disgrace as creative head of the French couture house Christian Dior over the scandal, later checked into rehab for two months in Arizona and Switzerland.
He stayed away from Thursday's hearing, explaining in a letter to the court that "he wished he could have attended" but chose to "avoid a new confrontation with the press."
Galliano's lawyer Aurelien Hamelle told reporters it was "a wise verdict".
"It took account of his sickness, and the numerous statements describing the true personality of John Galliano as someone who has never had the slightest racist or anti-Semitic feeling," said the lawyer.
At his one-day trial in July, Galliano had apologised for his conduct.
The designer insists he is not an anti-Semite but admits he can not remember the evenings in question, blaming a "triple addiction" to drink, sleeping pills and painkillers for his behaviour.
According to several witnesses, he subjected fellow patrons of the La Perle cafe in Paris' fashionable Marais district to streams of foul-mouthed anti-Jewish abuse.
He allegedly called one witness "a fucking ugly Jewish bitch" -- after mocking her "cheap boots" and insulting her figure.
The court said it was satisfied Galliano had indeed proferred the insults, based on numerous witness accounts, and that an amateur video taken around the same time had strengthened the prosecution's case.
The video footage, posted online, shows Galliano declaring "I love Hitler" and telling a couple at the next table: "People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be fucking gassed."
The court ruled however that while the comments were made in a public place they were never intended to be broadcast or widely disseminated -- an aggravating circumstance under French law.
Prosecutor Anne de Fontette accepted during the trial that Galliano "is not an ideologue of anti-Jewish ... racism."
But, in a remark likely to have stung the couturier, she branded the remarks "everyday racism and anti-Semitism, that of car parks and supermarkets, which is pitiful and disgusting."
One of the most celebrated designers of his generation, Galliano had been at the creative helm of Dior for 15 years, as well as running his own label, until the outburst brought his career crashing to a halt.
While Thursday's hearing was less of a media circus than his last court appearance, the fashion world was waiting to know if the fallen star would be condemned as a bigot or allowed to rebuild a reputation.
Christian Dior, which has taken its time finding a successor to Galliano, handing over temporaraily to his right-hand man Bill Gaytten, has firmly distanced itself from the designer and declined to comment on the trial.
