Paris Hilton’s prison stint – court outburst, 23 hours in solitary and strip search

When you think of jail, it might not be socialite Paris Hilton who you’d think of behind those steel bars.

But the Simple Life star was once handed a 45 day prison sentence for violating probation over a previous traffic offence, and has found herself in trouble with the law on several occasions.

Paris was first arrested in September 2006, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, and had her driving license suspended.

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The heiress of Hilton Hotels later pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless driving, and was handed 36 months on probation along with paying $1,500 in fines.

But it didn’t stop there. The next month, Paris was pulled over for driving without a license. And in March 2007, she was spotted driving 70mph in a 35mph zone, without headlights, at night – with a suspended license.

Her $190,000 Bentley Continental GTC was impounded, and with Paris failing to attend a court-ordered alcohol education programme, she was sentenced to 45 days behind bars.

Things are never simple with the Hilton heiress, and things only got more complicated from there…

Fan petition

Fans were so devastated that Paris had been sent to jail that they began an online petition begging for her release – and even went straight to another of her A-lister pals for help.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was serving as Californian governor at the time, and Paris’ loyal legion of fans begged him to provide the starlet with a pardon.

A plane even flew overheard at her trial dragging a banner which read: “We love Paris”.

But it was not meant to be, and Paris was taken down to serve her time at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California – after enjoying one last knees-up at the MTV Movie Awards two days before beginning her sentence.

Mysterious illness

Just three days after Paris began her sentence, she was released on house arrest with a tag device after declaring she was suffering from a mysterious illness.

Paris later confirmed that said illness was claustrophobia, severe anxiety and panic attacks.

She claimed to People Magazine: “I was basically in the foetal position, basically in hysterics.

“The doctors were observing me while I was there. They explained to sheriff Lee Baca that they thought I was having severe anxiety, panic attacks, claustrophobia.”

But a storm of protest that Paris was getting “celebrity treatment” meant a judge recalled her to court the morning after her release and told her she would have to serve out the rest of her sentence in prison.

Court outbursts

Though initially Paris simply hugged her parents and submitted to getting in the back of a police car, returning to court was a totally different story.

Paris broke down when she heard that the judge was sending her back to jail, beginning to cry, and begged for her mum to intervene.

Her mum Kathy was heard saying: “I can’t believe this! And after all the money we spent!”

Paris, meanwhile, cried: “It’s not right!”, as her mother stalked up to one of the prosecutors and screamed: “You’re pathetic!” in their face.

Paris served 23 days in jail total, and was released early on good behaviour.

Solitary confinement

Later, Paris opened up on CNN show Larry King Live about her time in prison, branding the experience “very traumatic”.

She explained: “It was a very traumatic experience, but I feel like God does make everything happen for a reason.

“It gave me a time out in life… I took that time to get to know myself. I have a new outlook on life.”

Paris’ cell only measured 2.4 metres by 3.6 metres across, and held a bunk bed, toilet, sink and metal desk – adding to her claustrophobia.

She was in 23-hour solitary confinement due to her celebrity status, and would use her one hour a day outside of her cell to shower and phone her family back home.

Her lawyer explained: “If she was an ordinary citizen she would have been placed in the general population… she’d be living in a dorm with 30, 40, 50 other women and the time would pass pretty quick.

“She is really being punished because of her celebrity.”

And her meals were passed through a small hatch in the door, consisting of a “plain bologna sandwich” or “mystery meat”.

In her cell, Paris passed the time by meditating, reading, writing in her journal and reading fan letters.

And thankfully she could chat to the other inmates through the vent system.

She told People: “All of the inmates were very supportive. There were girls next to me. We could talk through the vents and they were just really sweet.”

Strip search

One of Paris’ lowest moments behind bars came when she first arrived in jail on June 3, 2007.

She was forced to undergo a strip search to ensure she wasn’t bringing contraband into the facility.

She explained: “It was the most humiliating experience of my life. I’ve never had to do that in front of someone I didn’t know. It was pretty embarrassing.

“It’s pretty gross, taking your clothes off in front of someone like that.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk