French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been barred from running for public office for five years – derailing her bid to run in the next presidential election.

The National Rally leader, who left court before the verdict was read out, was found guilty in an embezzlement case.

She was also given a four-year jail sentence, with two years suspended. She is not expected to serve any jail time.

Le Pen, 56, who also received a €100,000 (£83,635) fine, is a three-time presidential contender who had said the next election in 2027 would be her final run for top office.

The ban, which comes into force immediately, ends those hopes unless she successfully appeals before the campaign.

Le Pen and 24 other National Rally officials were accused of diverting more than €3m (£2.51m) of European Parliament funds to pay France-based staff working for her party between 2004 and 2016.

The judge also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of Le Pen’s party who, like her, previously served as MEPs in the European Parliament.

Another 12 people who served as parliamentary aides for Le Pen and what is now the National Rally party, formerly the National Front, were also handed guilty verdicts.

The ruling described the embezzlement as “a democratic bypass” that deceived the parliament and voters.

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Sitting in the front row in the court in Paris, Le Pen showed no immediate reaction as the chief judge read the verdict.

Judge Benedicte de Perthuis ruled: “It was established that all these people were actually working for the party, that their (EU) lawmaker had not given them any tasks.

“The investigations also showed that these were not administrative errors … but embezzlement within the framework of a system put in place to reduce the party’s costs.”

Le Pen left the court before the completion of the verdict and sentencing and did not address the media outside before being driven away in a car.

She had denied accusations she was at the head of “a system” meant to siphon off EU funds to benefit her party.

Hearings revealed how some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard – who was once her father’s bodyguard – as well as for her personal assistant.

The defendants denied any wrongdoing and claimed the money was used legitimately.

The nine-week trial took place at the end of last year.

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The first orbital rocket launched from mainland Europe took off from Norway on Sunday – but crashed into the sea and exploded 40 seconds later.

The unmanned Spectrum rocket blasted off from the Arctic Andoeya Spaceport, on Sunday at 12.30pm local time before it was terminated less than a minute later.

Isar Aerospace, the German company that built the rocket, had warned that the launch could end prematurely. It maintained that despite being short, the flight had produced extensive data that its team could learn from.

“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,” Daniel Metzler, Isar’s chief executive and co-founder, said.

“We had a clean lift-off, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our flight termination system.”

Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle specifically designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit.

Its maiden voyage was aimed at kickstarting satellite launches from Europe.

Several European nations, including the UK and Sweden, have said they want to be an active player in the growing market of commercial space missions.

Big global companies already ahead in the satellite launch game include Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which launches from the US, and French company ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran that uses a spaceport in South America’s French Guiana.

Mr Musk’s SpaceX also operates the Starlink satellite service, a communications network that can provide much of the globe with access to the internet.

Germany’s BDLI aerospace industries association said Isar’s first flight would lead to further progress.

BDLI managing director, Marie-Christine von Hahn, said: “Europe urgently needs to ensure its sovereignty in space. Elon Musk’s Starlink is not without alternatives – nor should it be.”

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Sweden, with its Esrange launch site, and Britain with its SaxaVord Spaceport in the Scottish Shetland Islands, are the nearest rivals to the Norwegian site, all of which aim to give Europe greater autonomy in space flights.

SaxaVord, which suffered a setback when a rocket engine exploded during a test last year, is planning its first satellite launch later this year.

A British explorer has become the first woman to complete a solo traverse of Canada’s Baffin Island.

Camilla Hempleman-Adams, 32, pulled a sledge 150 miles in temperatures as low as -40C and winds as high as 47mph.

She finished the trek from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung in 13 days – a day ahead of schedule.

The largely uninhabited Arctic island is the fifth largest in the world and is in far northwest Canada – between the mainland and Greenland.

Speaking from the Inuit hamlet of Pangnirtung, Ms Hempleman-Adams said: “I’m feeling pretty exhausted, I have very sore feet, but it’s nice to be back in civilisation, just slowly settling back in.

“It’s been a really tough two weeks, but an incredible two weeks.”

“When you go in by yourself, you just have a mindset to keep going,” she said.

“You adapt, you have the mindset that you can’t give up. There is no giving up in those conditions.”

She admitted she had been looking forward to a hot shower.

Her father, adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, flew out to meet her at the finish line.

He said he’d been “really, really worried” due to the strong winds – which increase the chance of frostbite.

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“Being solo, you’ve got to be really on top of your game the whole time. If you just lose concentration for five minutes, it’s a real problem,” he said.

Sir David added: “It’s a fantastic advertisement for females. I mean, we are big, ugly and strong, but she’s half my weight and did it twice as fast as I did.”

Ms Hempleman-Adams also became the youngest British female to ski to the North Pole when she was just 15.