Bar Refaeli's dad convicted in attack

The Kfar Saba Magistrates Court on Thursday convicted Rafi Refaeli, 57, for the incident that took place in 2007. He was not found guilty of assault, but was convicted for breaking a camera and damaging a motorcycle.

According to court documents, Rafi Refaeli received a call from his supermodel daughter complaining that she was being followed and harassed by photographers while driving to his house in the city of Hod Hasharon.

The indictment states that the supermodel arrived at the house "crying and agitated." Her angry father went outside, grabbed one of the photographers' camera and poured water into it, causing damage estimated at thousands of shekels.

He then spat at the other photographer, hit him in the face, and damaged his motorcycles.

Bar Refaeli trying to avoid paparazzi (Photo: Yoni Tuvali)

Refaeli pleaded not guilty. He admitted that he grabbed a camera from one of the motorcycles, but said he just placed it on a barbeque in his backyard.

He also claimed that he did not threaten the photographers and did not cause them any damage, but Judge Michael Karshen ruled that "his version is unreliable and must be rejected completely.

"The defendant's explanations in regards to the condition of the camera are unreliable," the judge wrote. "He and none of the witnesses for the defense were able to shed light on what happened to the camera in those few minutes during which it was allegedly lying in the defendant's back yard and until it was handed over to the police.

"He had control of the camera and he must explain why it was returned dripping of water. Indeed, it's safe to assume that the defendant sabotaged the camera. He had a clear interest in doing so, as he knew the photographers were using it to take pictures of his daughter against her will."

A date has not yet been set for sentencing.

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