A CHILD sex offender who went on the run after kayaking from Jersey to France has been jailed for 12 months.

Gerard Hayslop, 26, sparked a land and sea search in August when he and his girlfriend Louise Howarth-Leigh, 19, went missing after leaving a campsite in Jersey.

Heyslop and Miss Howarth-Leigh were arrested in Paris on Friday, and he was convicted of offences relating to prostitution.

It is not yet clear what has happened to Miss Howath-Leigh, but it is believed that she is not in trouble, and her sister said she hoped she would return home as soon as possible.

Police have now issued a European arrest warrant to bring him back to the UK to face sentence for the child porn, but they do not yet know how long it will take.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said officers would have to work with authorities in France to find out exactly how long he would serve in prison there, but that he would definitely be brought back to England to serve his sentence for offences here.

Miss Howarth-Leigh's family said they had not yet heard from her, but were hoping that she would return home soon.

Her sister, Vicky Howarth, said: "I don't know whether she will be coming back, but of course we all hope she will.

"Things have been very difficult and although we do want to hear from her, I'm not sure whether or not she will want to get in touch.

"We all just want to make sure she's OK."

The couple, from Burnley, had used the false names Andrew Keeble and Hannah Tighe and left an address in Healey Wood Road in the town, and were not identified until Hayslop phoned his father to tell him he was in France and to ask for money.

Hayslop's father contacted the police - his son had been convicted in July of making indecent photographs of a child, and ordered to sign the sex offender's register, but did not return for sentencing at Burnley Crown Court.