NEW YORK, March 19: Naomi Campbell, wearing black stilettos and slinging dark work boots over her shoulder, traded the catwalk for community service on Monday at a sanitation garage to start a five-day sentence for assaulting her maid.

The 36-year-old supermodel arrived at the Manhattan District 3 Garage at Pier 36 on the Hudson River in a black sport utility vehicle. She will be on cleaning duty for her guilty plea to misdemeanour assault for throwing a cellphone at her maid over a pair of missing jeans.

Campbell was met by an official of the garage who escorted her through the double doors of the building. Her ensemble also included chocolate brown pants, a short fitted coat with a flared bottom, dark sunglasses and a newsboy-type cap over a short hairdo.

She did not acknowledge the media horde.

The sentencing judge allowed Campbell to be assigned to work indoors. The judge also granted Campbell’s request to delay her service until after several fashion shows.

Campbell pleaded guilty in January for hitting Ana Scolavino in the back of the head with the phone last March. Scolavino was treated for a head injury.

In exchange for her guilty plea, Campbell was ordered to pay Scolavino’s medical expenses of $363, do five days of community service and attend a two-day anger-management programme.

While community service has been employed in US courts for decades, the punishment has gained a higher profile after the celebrity sentences.

TV cameras were on the scene when former Culture Club front-man Boy George found himself using a broom and wearing a reflective orange vest as he swept a driveway at a Sanitation Department depot in August for his five-day community service stint.—AP