Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was  today sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from public office for life  after being found guilty of paying a teenager for sex at one of his infamous  ‘bunga bunga’ parties.

Berlusconi, 76, paid underage Moroccan teenager Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed  Ruby the heart-stealer, for sex and then  tried to cover it up with phone calls to police when she was arrested for  alleged theft. Berlusconi and the woman had denied having had sex.

Prosecutors were seeking a six-year jail term  for underage sex and abuse of power but three female judges at a Milan court  today handed him a longer sentence of seven years.

Verdict: Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio  Berlusconi, pictured left, was found guilty today of paying Moroccan Karima El  Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the heart-stealer, pictured right, for sex at a ‘bunga  bunga’ party

Sentenced: President of the court Giulia Turri (centre)  read out the damning verdict

Berlusconi was also given a lifetime ban from  holding public office after the former Prime Minister was found guilty today.

But the verdict can be appealed twice before  the sentence becomes final, which could take months, or even years.

This means the former Premier will not have  to spend any time in jail unless he loses his court appeals.

Berlusconi holds no official post in the  current Italian government, but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party  coalition that emerged after inconclusive February elections.

The verdict adds to mounting complications  facing Prime Minister Enrico Letta, whose fragile left-right coalition  government is supported by Berlusconi’s centre-right People of Freedom (PDL)  party.

Questioned: Karima El Mahrough appeared in court in a  previous trial in Milan. But Berlusconi’s team eventually dropped her from the  witness list after she failed to show on a couple of occasions in the current  trial

Appeals: Silvio Berlusconi can appeal against the  decision of the Milan Court, pictured, before it becomes final – meaning he will  not serve any time in prison if his appeals are successful

Berlusconi’s lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini,  immediately announced an appeal and said the sentence was as expected as it was  unjust.

‘This is beyond reality,’ Ghedini told  reporters outside the courthouse. ‘I’m calm because I’ve been saying for three  years that this trial should never have taken place here,’ Ghedini said.

The charges against the billionaire media  mogul stem from his infamous ‘bunga bunga’ parties in 2010 at his mansion near  Milan, where he wined and dined beautiful young women while he was premier.

He says the dinner parties were elegant  soirees; prosecutors say they were sex-fuelled parties that women were paid to  attend.

Neither Berlusconi nor the woman at  the  centre of the case, Karima el-Mahroug, better known by her nickname  Ruby the  Heart Breaker, have given evidence.

Former undersecretary to the minister of Platform  Accomplishment during Berlusconi’s time in office, Daniela Santanche, pictured  center, listens as the verdict against the former PM is read out

Milan’s chief prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati, left,  shakes hand with with Silvio Berlusconi lawyer Niccolo’ Ghedini who described  the sentence as unjust

She was 17 at the time of the alleged  encounters but passed herself off as being 24. while the age of  sexual  consent in Italy is 14, it is illegal to pay anyone under the age of 18 for sex.

Ms El-Mahroug was called by the  defence but  failed to show on a couple of occasions, delaying the trial. Berlusconi’s team  eventually dropped her from the witness list.

She did appear in the separate trial of three  Berlusconi aides charged with procuring prostitutes for the parties.

She told that court that Berlusconi’s disco  featured aspiring showgirls dressed as sexy nuns and nurses performing  striptease acts, and that one woman even dressed up as president Barack  Obama.

Berlusconi was not in court on as the three  female judges began deliberating his fate – or today when the final verdict was  delivered.

Alias: Karima el-Mahroug is better known as ‘Ruby the  Heartbreaker’

Asked if Berlusconi was optimistic, defence  lawyer Piero Longo previously said outside the court that he was a ‘realist’.

Berlusconi frequently has railed against Milan  prosecutors and judges, accusing  them of mounting politically motivated cases  against him.

Ms El-Mahroug, now 20, said in the earlier trial that she attended about a half-dozen parties at Berlusconi’s villa, and that after each,  Berlusconi  handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros (£2,560).

She said she later received 30,000 euros cash  from the then-premier paid through an intermediary – money that she told  Berlusconi she wanted to use to open a beauty salon, despite having no formal  training.

She was 17 at the time of the alleged  encounters but passed herself off as being 24. She also claimed she was related  to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Berlusconi’s lawyers argued that he –  thinking she was Mubarak’s niece – called police after she was detained in a bid  to avoid a diplomatic incident.

Ms El-Mahroug denied that Berlusconi had ever  given her 5 million euros.

She said she told acquaintances and even her  father that she was going to receive such a large sum ‘as a boast,’ but that it  was a lie to make her seem more important.

The verdict comes on the heels of  Berlusconi’s tax-fraud conviction, which along with a four-year prison sentence  and five-year ban on public office, have been upheld on a first  appeal.

The tax-fraud case is heading to Italy’s  highest court for a final appeal after Berlusconi’s defence failed to derail it  last week at the constitutional court.

Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times  relating to his business dealings, has been convicted in other cases at the  trial level.

But those convictions have always either been  overturned on appeal or the statute of limitations ran out before Italy’s high  court could have its say.

The sex-for-hire case is the first involving  his personal conduct.

Statement: Silvio Berlusconi’s lawyer Niccolo Ghedini  speaks to reporters outside the courthouse in Milan, Italy, today after judges  found him guilty of having sex with a minor

Read more: DailyMail