A Los Angeles Judge sentenced Hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton to a 45 day jail term after being found guilty of violating her probation for a drink-driving conviction.

During the hearing Ms Hilton told the judge she was very sorry and that she would "pay complete attention to everything" from now on, adding she did not know her licence had been suspended when caught driving without headlights in February.

According to papers filed in Los Angeles' Superior Court, Ms Hilton was stopped by California Highway Patrol officers on 15 January and informed she was driving on a suspended licence, the 26-year-old then reportedly signed a document acknowledging she was not allowed to drive.

Additionally Ms Hilton was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $1,150 (£582), and lost her licence at the end of January after pleading no contest to a drink driving charge in September.

Hilton a serial party goer from her teenage years became the world's most photographed woman, constantly pursued by swarms of paparazzi even at the court hearing they were in attendance.

"I'm very sorry and from now on I'm going to pay complete attention to everything," Ms Hilton told the court before she was sentenced.

Despite pleas that she was sorry and did not do it on purpose at all the judge remained completely unmoved.

The 26-year-old heiress wept when the ruling was announced, and her mother shouted at the prosecutor: "You're pathetic." while Ms Hilton's lawyers said the jail sentence was unfair. .