A woman has been found guilty of selling a fake designer handbag on the internet.

Insurance underwriter Zena Bailey was duped into buying what she believed was a rare Louis Vuitton handbag through the eBay auction site.

She paid nearly £1,000 for the cherry blossom papillon handbag after Angela Makki told her it was genuine.

Miss Bailey, from Hastings, suspected it was a fake as soon as she received it and called the police.

Makki, 48, was yesterday convicted at Hove Crown Court by a jury on a majority verdict of ten to two of obtaining money for the bag by deception.

Judge Anthony Niblett gave her a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and warned her that if it had not been for her previous good character she would have been jailed.

She was also ordered to pay Miss Bailey £1,000 compensation for the money she lost in the transaction.

The judge said: "This offence undermines the confidence of the public, and in particular those who are dealing, on eBay."

Guy Russell, prosecuting, had earlier told the court: "This particular handbag is quite rare and a collector's item in handbag circles.

"Miss Bailey took receipt of the bag on April 8, last year, having paid £980, plus £10 postage and packing, from her partner's account.

"She was suspicious of the bag immediately as it did not match the criteria of a genuine Louis Vuitton bag."

These included the bag having the wrong type of screws and rivets, grainy rather than smooth leather and colour differences between the flowers.

Miss Bailey told the jury the advert on eBay described the bag as "a beautiful brown cherry blossom design" that is no longer produced and extremely rare.

She said: "I asked the seller how long ago the bag was bought and who from and she said she bought it in Belgium in March 2004."

Makki, of Sheraton Lane estate, Gateshead, Tyneside, told the jury she bought the bag from another eBay seller for £450.

She said: "I believed it was a genuine Louis Vuitton cherry blossom papillon bag when I auctioned it."