ROME (Reuters) -
An Italian man who slapped a young woman on the bottom while she was making a telephone call has been handed a 14-month suspended jail term by the Supreme Court.

The tough sentence made headlines in Italy where judges have been cracking down on sexual harassment with a string of ground-breaking verdicts against unsolicited advances.

A man in northern Italy was fined 300 euros ($392.5) last year for sending a flirtatious text message to a woman.

In the past such cases would rarely have made their way into the courts of a country renowned for its macho society.

Italy's high court ruled that the slap was an act of sexual aggression, which belittled the woman and caused her "duress."

The aggressor, identified only as Ivan P., told the court that the victim was a relative, who had invented the story to get revenge in a family feud.

"I don't believe in justice anymore. The sentence has ruined my life," he told Il Messaggero newspaper. His prison term was suspended because he was a first time offender.