Supersonic skydiver Felix Baumgartner found guilty of punching Greek lorry driver in road rage incident

Baumgartner, 43, fined 1,500 euros by judges in appeal hearing, but escapes jail term

Record-breaking sky diver punches a Greek lorry driver in the face in his home city of Salzburg in September 2010, leaving 'blood everywhere'

Baumgartner was not in court, as he is currently on a speaking tour about his parachute jump from the edge of space last month

Supersonic skydiver Felix Baumgartner has been found guilty of punching a Greek lorry driver in the face in a road rage incident in his home town of Salzburg, Austria two years ago.

Baumgartner, who last month broke the world record altitude for a parachute jump in the Red Bull Stratos project, had appealed against the conviction for assault but a three-judge appeals panel today upheld the verdict.

Baumgartner, 43, was fined 1,500 euros but escaped jail for the assault on September 30, 2010.

Convicted: World record sky diver Felix Baumgartner was found guilty of assaulting a Greek lorry driver in his home town of Salzburg, Austria two years ago in an appeal hearing held today

Record breaker: Just last month, Baumgartner, 43, set a new record for the highest parachute jump when he fell from a height of 24 miles at a speed of 834mph

The victim, named only as Dimitrios P, 38, for legal reasons, told Austrian media that the punch came 'out of the blue' and left 'blood everywhere'.

He said: 'I was waiting at a roundabout and there were about four cars in front of me. He didn't want to wait and overtook us all and then of course got wedged on the roundabout.

'The other driver that was involved was his photographer - and he felt that he could also do the same and followed Mr Baumgartner, at which point I decided to have a work with the photographer.

'Mr Baumgartner decided that it was his job to get involved and he tried to claim I had attacked him and it was self-defence, but this is madness.

'There were two of them. The reality is that he punched me full in the face with his fist and left me with a cut.

Falling to earth: Baumgartner, seen here during his record jump, punched the Greek lorry driver in the face following an argument, leaving 'blood everywhere'

Flashpoint: The assault happened when Baumgartner overtook the lorry, which was queuing at a roundabout

'There was blood everywhere. I never tried to conceal anything at the court - I admitted that I had tried to kick him but it was only in retaliation.

'He was just acting the tough guy and showing off and making himself the hero, but he isn't a hero at all.'

He added that he was glad people could see what Mr Baumgartner, a former boxer, was really like.

Dimitrios said that after hitting him, Mr Baumgartner returned to his car and drove off.

In the original trial the court chose to believe the version of events put forward by the Greek man rather than that of Baumgartner and the German photographer.

Charged: Baumgartner, who didn't attend the appeal hearing because he is on a speaking tour, was fined 1,500 euros but escaped a jail term

Baumgartner was not present during today's court hearing as he is currently on a tour talking about his adventures.

On October 24, he jumped from a helium balloon at an altitude of 39km (24 miles), reaching an estimated speed of 1,342km/h (834mph) and breaking the sound barrier during his descent, the first person to do so.