Irvine unlikely to serve six month jail sentence

Jan.10 (GMM) A Milan judge on Thursday sentenced former F1 driver Eddie Irvine to six months in jail.

The case dates all the way back to 2008, when Michael Schumacher's former Ferrari teammate accused the son of the then Milan mayor of assaulting him at the city's Hollywood nightclub.

But Gabriele Moratti, son of the now former mayor Letizia, denied the charge, claiming a drunk Irvine in fact attacked him with a glass.

Reports suggested the fight was over a text message Irvine, who retired from F1 after the 2002 season, sent to Moratti's girlfriend.

In 2011, it emerged that the case would head to court, after negotiations for a settlement collapsed.

Now, on Thursday in Milan, the judge found 48-year-old Ulsterman Irvine guilty of "mutual injury", and Moratti was given the same six-month jail sentence.

But the Telegraph quoted Moratti's lawyer as saying both sentences would probably be suspended after an appeal.

And AFP news agency said all Italian jail sentences under two years are automatically suspended.