Woman, 19, seen at Larnaca airport hours after being told she was free to leave country

A British teenager convicted of falsely accusing 12 Israelis of gang-rape was heading back to the UK on Tuesday night – hours after being told she was free to leave Cyprus having received a suspended sentence.

The 19-year-old student, who has vowed to go all the way to the European court of human rights to clear her name, was spotted at Larnaca airport before her flight, where her mother told supporters: “We are delighted to be going home, where we will continue the fight to clear my daughter’s name. The fight is not over to get justice.”

Earlier, the teenager was handed a four-month prison term, suspended for three years. The judge, Michalis Papathanasiou, said he would give her a “second chance” and she could effectively walk free.

“The defendant has expressed regret,” he told the court in Paralimni, as chants from Cypriot and Israeli protesters gathered outside the building were heard. “I have decided to give her a second chance given her age, psychological state and immaturity.”

There were hugs, tears and relief in the courtroom among family members and supporters when she was spared prison. The teenager stood motionless in the dock throughout, her head bent slightly as she listened to an interpreter.

The suspended sentence will do little to allay what her lawyers described as an “incredibly sad and tragic case” for a young woman whose crime had been to report a sexual assault while on holiday in the party resort of Ayia Napa last July.

The Briton turned from victim to suspect overnight when, in now disputed circumstances, she withdrew the rape complaint after eight hours of police questioning.

Within hours of the retraction, the Israelis she accused of gang-rape, aged between 15 and 22, with most of them about to enter the army as conscripts, were allowed to fly home. The investigation into the claims was dropped, with the teenager being forced to spend a month in Nicosia prison before being granted bail on the condition that she surrendered her passport.

The sentencing took place a week after the young woman was convicted of wilfully indulging in public mischief for the offence of fabricating “an imaginary crime”. Speculation of a presidential pardon had mounted on the eve of the decision.

Under the Cypriot penal code, the crime of fomenting public mischief is punishable by up to a year in prison with a penalty of as much as €1,708 (£1,450). The judge said the fine would be reduced to €140.

The case has attracted international attention far beyond the frequently bizarre court proceedings, with critics claiming it had illuminated the deficiencies of a system that failed to take reports of sexual assault seriously.

“Whilst we welcome the fact that the sentence imposed today allows her to go home … the fight for her innocence will go on regardless,” said Lewis Power QC, who added that her legal team would contest the guilty conviction in the Cyprus supreme court and, if necessary, the European court of human rights.

“We say and will maintain that this young girl was stripped both of her dignity and basic human rights … This case has highlighted a gaping chasm in the specialised treatment of sexual assault victims in Cyprus,” he said.

Women’s groups spurred into action in Cyprus had been emboldened by the backing of outraged Israelis, who flew in to join protests. Many described the outcome as a “superficial victory”, supporting the teenager’s pledge to oppose the sentence.

Several Israeli men appalled by the student’s treatment were among them. Wearing a T-shirt with the words “Our sister I believe you”, Yuval Newman said he had been so “angry and shocked” by the guilty verdict that he had decided to fly into Cyprus with his 16-year-old son.

“To put all the blame on this young woman is so wrong,” Newman said. “So much needs to change in Israel around the way teenagers treat women. I have brought my son with me in the hope that he will learn from this and go away knowing that women need to be treated properly.”

The Briton, whose mother said she wanted to become a police officer, had been due to start studying criminology at university in the autumn. Since the alleged attack – described by the teenager as taking place when she was having consensual sex with one member of the group – she has had severe post-traumatic stress disorder and been taking antidepressants.

An expedited appeal request will be lodged with the Cyprus supreme court by 17 January to ensure the case is heard within six months, said her senior Cypriot lawyer, Nicoletta Charalambidou.

“We are all relieved that she will not have to go to prison and happy that the sentence is suspended, and she can get on with her life and take care of her mental health,” she said. “But we will pursue the appeal in an effort to have a final, positive acquittal decision.”

In an indication of the diplomatic dimensions the case has assumed, Boris Johnson’s spokesman said: “Throughout this case, our focus has been on ensuring the young woman can return home. We’re very pleased this can now happen. We hope she and her family will now be given space and privacy so they can start rebuilding their lives.”

The spokesman said the Foreign Office would work with Cyprus and other countries on how to avoid similar cases in the future, but reiterated that the UK government had “numerous concerns about the judicial process of this case and the woman’s right to a fair trial”, and had raised these with Cyprus.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, expressed relief that the “vulnerable young lady” was about to return home after six months.

“I understand quite how much she’s been through and what her family’s been through,” he said. “We will be following up on some issues in relation to the case … There is the broader issue for Brits travelling not just in Cyprus or in the EU, but travelling abroad, whether it’s on holiday, whether it’s backpacking, and making sure they can do so as safely and securely as possible.”

The administration of the Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, had repeatedly said it could not interfere in the independent workings of the courts. Loudest among the protest chants heard as the judge read out his decision was “Cyprus justice, shame on you”.

Verity Nevitt, who organised a march in London in solidarity with the teenager, called the Cypriot handling of the case “farcical”.

She added: “Today, the judge proved that he is unfit to judge cases of sexual violence, he should be recalled from the role.

“I am angry that the UK have behaved so pitifully in protecting one of their own, one who is already so vulnerable and in desperate need of support. Britain should have said no Briton is taking part in this farce of a judicial system and we are not allowing this joke trial to continue where a victim is being tried as a criminal.”