Macron's ex-bodyguard handed jail sentence over May Day assaults

A former security adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron was sentenced on Friday to three years in jail, two of them suspended, over charges including roughing up May Day protesters in 2018, media reported.

The May Day scandal was an embarrassment for Macron, who is expected to run again in elections next year.

The court said Alexandre Benalla, who was also found guilty of illegally using diplomatic passports and illegally carrying a weapon, acted with "a feeling of impunity and omnipotence," a franceinfo reporter present in the courthouse said on Twitter.

The court's sentence was tougher than the 18-month suspended term sought by prosecutors.

Benalla will serve the one-year sentence at home with an electronic bracelet, media including BFM TV said.

Macron and his Elysee palace team were sharply criticized in 2018 for not immediately sacking Benalla, who was fired when a video of the incident emerged six weeks later.