‘The Israeli footballer who had a holiday fling with the British teenager who later accused him and 11 friends of gang-raping her in Ayia Napa taunted her as she was freed today and said: ‘I hope she has learned her lesson’.
The 19-year-old woman from Derbyshire, who MailOnline has chosen not to name, broke down and hugged her family this morning after a judge in Cyprus gave her a four-month suspended sentence after being controversially convicted of lying.
She was in a consensual relationship with semi-pro footballer Shimon Yusufov, also 19, but told police he held her down while she was raped by a gang of 12 who also filmed it on their mobile phones in a hotel room after a night out last July.
Yusufov, who plays for Beit Shemesh FC near Jerusalem, denied rape along with his 11 friends but said today he accepted she should be allowed to return to Britain after six hellish months in Cyprus.
His lawyer Nir Yaslovitzh told MailOnline: ‘He takes the opinion that justice has been done. She was found guilty by the court of lying and I hope with this sentence she has learned her lesson. We respect the decision of the court and of course she was found guilty.’
Tel Aviv based Yaslovitch said the girl would be ‘stupid’ to launch an appeal against her conviction for public mischief, adding: ‘The appeal court will hear the same evidence and come to the same conclusion. It is a crazy thing to do’.
The young Briton was mobbed by hundreds of supporters as she left Famagusta District Court in Paralimni and was swept away to a hotel where she will be handed back her passport and taken to the airport for a flight to the UK this afternoon.
After the sentencing, with tears in her eyes, she said she was ‘relieved’ before her mother held her arms aloft and yelled to supporters: ‘She’s coming home’.
But she remains a convicted criminal because the suspended sentence handed down today meant a pledge by Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades to pardon her if she was jailed never materialised. Her appeal will be filed this week but her legal team hope Mr Anastasiades will still step in.’
