French actor also fined €4,000 after being found to be three times over the alcohol limit when he fell from scooter

The French actor Gerard Depardieu was banned from driving for six months , after he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit when he fell from his scooter last year.

The 64-year-old star of films such as Cyrano de Bergerac was not in the Paris court to hear its decision to suspend his driving licence and fine him €4,000 (£3,422). Drink-driving in France can be punishable by up to two years' jail.

Depardieu, who owns a vineyard in the Loire valley, injured his elbow but nobody else when he fell from the scooter in Paris last November.

The fall came a few months after a car driver filed a suit against the actor for assault and battery following an altercation in the French capital. The year before, Depardieu urinated in the aisle of an Air France plane as it prepared to take off.

In 2012, the actor criticised the Socialist government of François Hollande over high taxes, taking up President Vladimir Putin's offer of a Russian passport.

Russia has a flat income-tax rate of 13%, compared with a top rate of more than 40% in France, where the government plans a 75% tax on incomes above €1m.

Depardieu said his decision to take Russian nationality and plan to open a restaurant in the city of Saransk were not motivated by tax concerns. He is considering shooting a film in Chechnya, where he was seen this year embracing its leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Commenting on Friday's court ruling, Depardieu's lawyer, Eric de Caumont, said: "Naturally we are disappointed to the extent that we had sought an acquittal."

• The first Russian motherboard based on ARM-processor Baikal-M