The Briton who stripped naked on a sacred Malaysian mountain is expected to walk free from court after being sentenced to three days jail, which authorities said she had already served.
Eleanor Hawkins was also fined £1000 after admitting to a charge of 'indecent behaviour'.
The 23-year-old appeared in court Friday alongside Canadian siblings, Lindsey Petersen and Danielle Petersen, and a Dutch woman, Dylan Snel, after an image of them posing for nude photos on Mount Kinabalu was circulated online.
The tourists, who were already in custody, could have been jailed for up to three months or fined, or both. Despite being sentenced to three days in jail, Hawkins is expected to be released later Friday, as she has been in custody since Tuesday.
Authorities had to shelter Hawkins through a huge mass of photographers as she entered the Kota Kinabalu Magistrates' Court where she had been driven by officials wearing balaclavas.
Hawkins is led into the court by authorities amid chaotic scenes, and is said to have admitted stripping off on the sacred mountain while posing for pictures
The court heard that the group had been making a lot of noise on the mountain and some members of the group had also urinated in a pond during the incident.
The group could also reportedly face a native court, as posing naked on the mountain breaches native customary law in the state of Sabah. One tribal leaders has been quoted as saying the tourists should pay a fine of 10 buffalo.
Many locals believe that the mountain holds the spirit of their ancestors, and the tourists actions, it has been claimed, caused an earthquake that killed 18 people days later.
Elanor Hawkins, seen posing for a photo prior to her arrest, is to be charged on Friday
On Thursday Hawkins' father, Timothy Hawkins issued a heartfelt plea to judges to "not use my daughter as an example" and claimed Eleanor was "scared" and "very upset."
The mountaineers snapped stripping off on the sacred mountain
"I'd like to appeal to the Malaysian authorities to punish the crime and not take into account the unfortunate and tragic circumstances that followed it - because they are not related," he told Mirror Online.
Mr Hawkins told the Press Association yesterday: "She's okay, she's very scared, she's very upset.
"She's been arrested. It's not a situation she's been in before so it's not good.
"We've talked to the consulate and arranged a lawyer."
Mr Hawkins, who runs a mechanical engineering business, said his daughter is "obviously in the photos" but he did not want the situation to be "blown out of all proportion".
Hawkins, 23, could face jail time over the nude pictures scandal
He added: "It's fair enough to charge for the misdemeanour committed.
"What we don't want is her lumbered with further charges."
Canadian Emil Kaminski, 33, posted a photo on Facebook of other members of the hiking team stripping off, and in a separate post, later deleted, criticised officials for blaming them for the earthquake.
He wrote: "Oh, Malaysia, why are your politicians so stupid?
"Some deranged prick has linked earthquakes and mountaintop nudity."
After a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the 13,400ft-high mountain on Friday, Sabah deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed the tragedy on the tourists for showing "disrespect to the sacred mountain" by posing naked at the peak.
He has said a special ritual will be conducted to "appease the mountain spirit" following the earthquake.
Mr Hawkins said he did not want to prejudice his daughter's trial by voicing his views on Mr Kitingan's belief that the group's act caused the earthquake.
But he criticised the actions of Kaminski, who is said to have circulated the photos and allegedly posted offensive comments on social media.
Mr Hawkins added: "What I will say is the guy stirring up a media storm - the halfwit Canadian guy - is not doing anyone any favours."
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Devastating Earthquake Photos
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu told Malaysia's official news agency Bernama that the region's indigenous people believed the group had "angered the spirit" of the mountain, and that visitors to the Unesco-listed Mt Kinabalu National Park should "always respect" local cultures and religions.
“Some places have their own historical background and are sacred to the local community and, as such, visitors to these places should respect the place, the local traditions and cultures,“ he said.
Mount Kinabalu's peak pictured after the earthquake struck
Hawkins, who recently graduated with a master's in aeronautical engineering, was in the middle of an extended trip around south-east Asia which began in January, according to reports.