A lesbian British mother who went on the run with her two children and tried to cross the Channel with them in a rubber dinghy was today given a six-month prison sentence suspended for a year.

Lauren Etchells, 33, was also fined £500 for lying to immigration officials and ordered to pay £1600 court costs after being convicted of child neglect at an earlier hearing in St Helier, Jersey.

Her parents Brian and Angela, who faced the same child neglect charges, were given an identical sentence and fine.

Lauren Etchells, 33, was also fined £500 for lying to immigration officials and ordered to pay £1600 court costs

Angela and Brian Etchells arrive at Jersey Magistrates' Court in St Helier, Jersey, for their sentencing for child neglect

Lauren Etchells, left, and Tasha Brown are pictured together above in June 2015

Etchells did not speak during the sentencing at St Helier Magistrates court but her legal team indicated they would immediately appeal the conviction.

It means she will stay in Jersey for the forseable future as any return to the UK would lead to her arrest on child abduction charges filed by her ex-wife in Canada.

Etchells was convicted of two charges of causing risk of harm to her children.

She earlier admitted immigration offences of providing false information when she beached her dinghy on a Jersey beach.

After years in Spain, she was arrested in July after making the Channel crossing in a 13ft inflatable dinghy (pictured) with her children and her parents

The former teacher had been on the run for three years after fleeing Canada following the end of her relationship with Tasha Brown.

She fled with her daughter Kaydance, now aged four, and her one-year old son from a sperm donor who became her boyfriend.