PARIS HILTON - PATTY HEARST GIVES PARIS 'PRISON ADVICE'

PATTY HEARST GIVES PARIS 'PRISON ADVICE'

Fellow heiress Patty Hearst, famously kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, has given Paris Hilton a few words of warning before she begins her prison sentence.

In what is surely one of the most bizarre stories this year Hearst, who has something of a cult fascination in the US, wrote to gossip website tmz.com to initially deny claims that she is in contact with Paris who is preparing for her sentence.

The 53-year-old amazed America in the 1970s when she appeared to join her captors in furthering their cause and was seen wielding an assault rifle in a bank robbery. She later claimed her actions were the result of brainwashing and Stockholm syndrome, when hostages sympathise with their captors.

Her seven-year prison term was drastically cut short to 22 months and she was finally granted a full pardon by president Bill Clinton in 2001.

Paris is hoping that her 45-day jail sentence for violating her driving probation, due to begin on June 5th, is cut short.

However Hearst seems unlikely to provide sympathetic advice to the Simple Life star.

"Since I'm thinking about it now, I must say that my heart goes out to the inmates of the century regional detention centre," read the scathing letter.

"45 days with Paris Hilton and the attendant publicity seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me. Perhaps they should be petitioning the governor for relief?"