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British teenager spared jail over Ayia Napa rape claim

Government
James Chapple
7 January 2020

A British teenager has been spared an immediate jail sentence after she was convicted of making a false gang rape claim in Cyprus last year.

The CyprusFlightPass policy was relaxed on Monday alongside Cyprus’s Covid country categorisation system

The 19-year-old was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for three years, following a hearing at a court in Paralimni on Tuesday morning (7 January), the BBC reports.


She was also ordered to pay €148 in legal fees. The suspension means she is free to return to the UK.


The woman was found guilty in December of lying about being gang raped by 12 Israeli men while she was on a working holiday in Ayia Napa in July 2019.


She was arrested when she retracted her accusation 10 days later following lengthy questioning by police in Cyprus, calling into question the handling of her case.