Lucy Lawless sentenced to community service, avoids huge payout

After walking the red carpet for “Spartacus: War of the Damned” last month in L.A., Lucy Lawless walked into a New Zealand court Thursday to be sentenced for a little illegal activity involving a very big boat.

Lawless was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay a fine of $547 to a port company after pleading guilty last June to trespassing on the Noble Discoverer in February 2012.

Doesn’t sound too bad, all things considered — and indeed, the former “Xena” star sounded pretty positive after court, because she and six other Greenpeace protesters had been facing up to three years in prison (unlikely for a first-time offender) and a $545,000 demand for reparations lodged by Shell Todd Oil Services, which had chartered the ship.

“I consider it a great victory that the court has struck down the reparation demand from Shell, which I think was absolutely ludicrous,” said Lawless, who expressed a willingness to clean toilets, pick up trash or do whatever was asked of her in community service.

On Twitter, she added a different detail: “Day 4 of a liver detox is a helluva time to go to court. I’m just sayin’.”

The judge said Shell could still pursue reparations in civil court. Sentencing had been postponed twice before actually taking place Thursday.

The Greenpeace group was arrested a year ago after boarding an oil-drilling ship and attempting to keep it from leaving the Port of Taranaki for an Arctic destination. For 77 hours, the actress camped out on and blogged from a 174-foot tower on the ship.

“For the first time in my life, I put my body and reputation on the line to stand up for my beliefs and do the right thing,” she said in June after entering her guilty plea to a charge that had been reduced from burglary. “I hope I’ve encouraged other people to do the same.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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