Burzum's Varg Vikernes has been found guilty of inciting racial hatred and given a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of €8,000 (£6,400) by a French court, report Norwegian news outlet The Local.

Vikernes, the sole member of the notorious Norwegian black metal project, was arrested last July on charges of planning a terrorist act. A lack of evidence led to him being released in August, though French prosecutors pushed ahead with a second set of charges relating to posts attacking Muslim and Jewish people and glorifying war crimes. While Vikernes did not attend the sentencing yesterday, he had previously told the court that an impersonator had written the posts, claiming "at any given moment [there are] 350 people pretending to be Varg Vikernes on Facebook".

The news also follows Sports Direct's recent baffling decision to sell Burzum T-shirts online. A T-shirt featuring an image of one of the Norwegian churches Vikernes is alleged to have burned down was on sale through the British and several European versions of the website, though was made unavailable yesterday.