Singer Katy Perry has won a multi-million dollar payout, after a jury ruled a developer acted with malice in blocking the sale of a convent.

The US singer first tried to buy the Los Feliz convent from the Archbishop in Los Angeles in 2015 - but before the sale was finalised, two of the five sisters from the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) who claimed ownership, sold to a local developer, Dana Hollister.

The LA archdiocese sued the sisters, who said only they had the right to sell it, despite not living there since 2011, and won.

They also said Ms Hollister's actions prevented the sale to Ms Perry, who had offered US$14.5m (€12.2m).

A jury agreed with Ms Perry and the Catholic Church that Ms Hollister had acted with malice, and awarded US$10m (€8.46m) to the parties, which will be split with one-third going to the singer and two-thirds to the church.

In a statement from the archdiocese, to the Angulus website, the church explained it took action because Ms Hollister had paid US$44,000 (€37,228) for the property, and they felt the sisters had been taken advantage of.

One of the sisters, Rita Callanan, told the LA Times that she had sought a different buyer for the convent when she had seen Ms Perry's music videos.

She said: "Well, I found Katy Perry and I found her videos and ... if it's all right to say, I wasn't happy with any of it."