‘Fuck you’: defiant Lindsay Lohan tells judge

Lindsay Lohan may have broken down in tears when she was sentenced to 90 days in jail yesterday, but the 24-year-old Hollywood actress also had a more defiant message for the judge written on her middle finger. Lohan, who was in the Beverly Hills court yesterday for violating the terms of her probation following a drink-driving conviction, appeared at the hearing with the words 'fuck you' written on her middle finger.

The image was captured by Getty photographer David McNew (see inset above). According to Gawker, Lohan may have written the message on her nail during the hearing, where she could be seen spending "a lot of time writing, doodling and otherwise fiddling with a pen".

Lohan, star of Freaky Friday and Mean Girls and due to play Linda Lovelace in a biopic of the notorious Deep Throat porn actress, had consistently failed to attend alcohol education classes imposed by the judge. As well as the 90-day sentence, she will be required to enter a rehabilitation programme following her release from prison.

Judge Marsha Revel issued the sentence after Lohan had failed to attend a scheduled court appearance in May. She was stuck in Cannes, where she was attending the film festival to publicise the Deep Throat film, after claiming to have had her passport stolen.

Since arriving back in the States from Cannes, the actress has been forced to wear an ankle alcohol monitor.

Judge Revel took her tough line after prosecutor Danette Meyers argued that Lohan has been thumbing her nose at the court ever since she was placed on probation. She had missed seven alcohol education classes over a period of 27 weeks.

In a tearful statement before being sentenced, Lohan told Judge Revel: "I did the best I could." But the judge refused to be swayed. "I couldn't have been more clear [about my orders]," she told the actress. "There are no excuses."

Lohan must surrender herself to the court on July 20 to begin her jail term.

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Department told the TMZ website that, normally, with good behaviour, a female prisoner in Lohan's situation would only have to serve a quarter of their sentence. This means she is likely to spend about 23 days behind bars.