THE parents of a 22-year-old Clitheroe woman brutally assaulted in Cyprus today vowed to fight for justice after her attacker was jailed for three years.

The holidaymaker, who has not been named, received injuries so severe she required two operations but a rape charge was dropped due to a lack of forensic evidence.

Her mother said she was expected to undergo further surgery in Manchester to reverse a colostomy operation if her internal injuries sufficiently heal.

And she feared the emotional scars of her daughter's brutal assault, in Ayia Napa, would live on for the rest of her life and called for a tougher sentence against her attacker.

Zinonas Mastrou, 26, was jailed after admitting assault and battery and causing grievous bodily harm after initial charges of abduction and rape were dropped due to lack of evidence.

He could be freed from prison within 18 months, after his lawyers argued he did not have control of his actions.

Although the woman sustained internal injuries sustained from a sharp wooden object, Cypriot law -- as in Britain -- states that rape must be the act of physical sexual intercourse.

And he was not charged with indecent assault.

In this country rape would have carried a maximum life sentence. Grievous bodily harm carries a maximum of five years and under Cypriot law it carries a maximum seven years.

Doctors at Larnaca Hospital refused state prosecutors permission to conduct further tests on the woman after surgery when DNA samples taken immediately after the assault proved inconclusive.

The family is now consulting lawyers regarding an appeal against Mastrou's sentence, although they have been advised it could be costly and time-consuming.

The woman's father said: "They didn't take enough DNA samples, which meant prosecutors were unable to conclusively prove rape, but in my opinion the injuries my daughter sustained are enough to prove rape and her attacker has got off too leniently.

"The Cypriot authorities have never come across anything like this before and just didn't know what to do. No means no and what ever she was raped with is irrelevant.

"She will have to live with this for the rest of her life and we will pursue Mastrou until she gets some justice. We are appalled at the outcome of the case and will not let it drop."

The court heard detailed accounts of how Mastrou, a diver, physically abused the woman after they both left a club at around 4am following a drinking session.

The woman was later found at around noon, naked and seriously injured in the village of Sotira.

Cypriot state pathologist, Eleni Antoniou, said the woman's injuries were the worst she had seen in six years working in Cyprus.

The woman's parents today described Cypriot justice as shameful, after Mastrou's lawyers argued she had led his client on after a drinking binge in a nightclub.

The woman claimed she became separated from a friend in the early hours after a night on the town.

The victim's mother said: "Cypriot locals have been horrified by this assault and many have written us letters of support, expressing their disgust and shame as a nation.

"We have even been contacted by the Red Cross and the Cyprus Tourist Board."