Hainichen, Germany - An 18-year-old girl who claimed that neo-Nazis scratched a swastika on her thigh after she defended a child from a racist attack was convicted Friday of faking a crime.

A court in the east German town of Hainichen sentenced her to 40 hours of community service at the end of a closed-door trial that heard evidence from 22 witnesses and two experts.

The alleged attack in November last year shocked Germany, with commentators calling for a crackdown on neo-Nazi thugs.

Police in the eastern town of Mittweida, near the Czech border, say an extensive inquiry had failed to produce any corroborating evidence. The court found the girl had carved the swastika into her own skin.

She claimed four youths with shaven heads had shoved an immigrant girl aged about 5 of Soviet origin. When the 18-year-old protested, they had held the teenager down and scratched her on a car-park as residents watched from the balconies of nearby apartments.

The 18-year-old's lawyer had charged that there was a conspiracy of silence to protect neo-Nazis in Mittweida. He accused police of falling for a deception and not trying hard enough. (dpa)