A British woman found guilty of fabricating a claim that she was raped by a gang of Israeli youths in Cyprus has received a four-month prison sentence – suspended for three years.

The 19-year-old, from Derbyshire, insists she was the victim of a horrific attack, and was previously told she faced up to a year in prison.

“She’s coming home,” her mother shouted to supporters outside court, adding that she was “very relieved at the sentence”.

Her lawyer, Lewis Power QC, said she would be returning on Tuesday. “We will be appealing the conviction and will take this case to the Supreme Court of Human Rights,” he told reporters.

He added that the teenager had been “stripped both of her dignity and her basic human rights”, had been “diagnosed with severe PTSD” and suffered a “deterioration of her mental health”.

In a hearing on Tuesday morning, Judge Michalis Papathanasiou told her he was giving her a “second chance”.

Sitting in Paralimni, the judge said he had been “troubled over this” case, adding: “All the evidence shows that she had lied and prevented the police from doing other serious jobs.”

He continued: “Twelve people were arrested and seven of them were there for at least 10 days. That was also a serious offence.”

But her “psychological state, her youth, that she has been away from her family, her friends and academic studies this year” led Judge Papathanasiou to “give her a second chance and suspend the sentence for three years”.

After hugging her family and her legal team the teenager left court in tears with her head in her hands.

Outside court a group of women who had travelled from Israel chanted: “Cyprus justice, shame on you”, “stop blaming the victim” and “you are not alone”.

Some were holding placards reading “we believe you” and “don’t be afraid”.

The teenager has been stuck on the island since claiming she was raped by up to 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room in Ayia Napa on 17 July.

She previously told a Cypriot court that a statement she made withdrawing her allegations was given under duress and while facing threats from Cypriot police.

Last week, she was found guilty of the offence of “public mischief” – in other words, of falsifying an allegation of a crime.

The judge said she had willingly had sex with one man, and then lied out of a sense of shame.

The guilty verdict led to protests in Britain as well as on both Cyprus, with the government describing it as a “distressing” case.

Sky News understands UK diplomats are convinced she is the victim of a brutal crime and a miscarriage of justice.

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