A Vatican tribunal has found a cardinal guilty of embezzlement and sentenced him to five and a half years in prison, PA Media reports. 

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the first cardinal to be prosecuted by the Vatican's criminal court, was acquitted of a number of other charges, while nine other defendants received a combination of convictions and acquittals on nearly 50 charges brought against them in a trial that lasted two and a half years.

Becciu's lawyer, Fabrizio Villone, said he respects the verdict but plans to appeal it.