Hilton ‘learning and growing’ from jail ordeal

HOTEL heiress Paris Hilton has said she won’t appeal her 45-day jail sentence and is “learning and growing” from her time behind bars.

In a statement released by one of her attorneys, she said she won’t fight her sentence after a brief stint under house arrest at her Hollywood Hills home.

“While I greatly appreciate the sheriff’s concern for my health and welfare, I intend to serve my time at LA County Jail,” Hilton said in the statement.

The celebutante spent the weekend at a maximum-security detention centre, where she was believed to be undergoing medical and psychiatric evaluations to determine the best jail to keep her in as she serves the rest of her sentence.

Hilton, in tears and screaming for her mother, was taken to the Twin Towers facility on Friday after Superior Court Judge Michael T Sauer ordered her back to jail.

“Being in jail is by far the hardest thing I have ever done,” she said in the statement. “During the past several days, I have had a lot of time to think and I believe that I am learning and growing from this experience.”

Hilton added she was “shocked” by the attention her case has received and suggested the public and media focus on “more important things like the men and women serving our country in Iraq”.

Her lawyers had sought to keep her out of jail on grounds that the 26-year-old was suffering an unspecified medical condition. Judge Sauer suggested that could be taken care of in jail.

Although the authorities wouldn’t discuss Hilton’s condition, citing privacy laws, Sheriff Lee Baca indicated it was psychological.

He said she arrived at her original jail with a condition he hadn’t been apprised of and it immediately began to deteriorate to the point he feared for her safety.

Which jail the heiress will end up at depends on the results of her assessment by the facility’s doctors.