New Delhi: Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's flamboyant former premier, suffered one of his most damaging setbacks yet as a court  sentenced him to seven years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics for paying an underage prostitute for sex and forcing public officials to cover it up.

While the verdict is stiffer than expected, the 76-year old billionaire media mogul, who was not in court for the sentencing, still has two levels of appeal - and his supporters are rallying around him.